Windows 10 updates are key elements for the growth of the operating system, but you have to have some control over them. That is why it may be the case that the PC administrator has disabled automatic Windows updates.
This is something that can happen for various reasons, whether it be done manually, or due to some failure in the configuration of automatic updates . Therefore, if necessary, the message Your device has disabled automatic updates in Windows 10 may appear.
Reasons for the error Your device has disabled automatic updates in Windows
So, assuming we see this error message when trying to check for new updates, let’s see how to fix the problem. To start, you have to know that Windows 10 automatically checks for updates and installs them in the background. This allows us to continue working in the meantime. However when you see this message , Windows 10 will not automatically download these important updates.
Some of the reasons this message might appear is because the system administrator has established this policy. It can also be that the settings for automatic updates are wrongly specified in Group Policy, or simply that the computer has malware. Therefore, when seeing the mentioned error, we can take some measures.
Fix the bug of automatic updates
The first thing we can try is to use the registry editor to fix this problem. Specifically, we are going to modify an essential registry key to manage Windows 10 updates. To access this section that we discussed, the first thing we must do is type the regedit command in the search box on the Start menu.
Once in the new window, we are located in the path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Policies / Microsoft / Windows / WindowsUpdate / AU, where on the right we should find a key called AUOptions. If it does not exist we can always create it, of 32-bit DWORD type, with the values 2, 3, 4 or 5. Its meaning is as follows:
- 2 – Notify of automated download and installation.
- 3: Automatically download and notify you of updates installation.
- 4: automatic download and installation programming.
- 5: Allow local administrator to choose.
- Therefore, in the case at hand, perhaps the most interesting option is to set this value to 3.
Other possible solutions to Windows failure
On the other hand we can also draw on the service called BITS or Background Intelligent Transfer Service. This is a critical component for running Windows Update , among other sections of the system. Therefore, if it is not running in the background, the system will be able to update in the background as it should.
As a result, Windows shows the error that we have mentioned when looking for new updates. Therefore it is recommended that we make sure that the BITS is running, otherwise it will be necessary to start it. To do this, we open the Windows Service Manager and locate the intelligent transfer option in the background, where we double-click. Here we have to make sure that the status of said service is shown running.
To finish, say that we also have the possibility to activate these Windows updates from the system services themselves. And it is necessary to know that there are several methods to disable automatic updates from Windows Update in Windows 10 . This is something that many users carry out, for whatever reason, although it is not always recommended. So if at the time we used the Service Manager for this, now we must make sure that the corresponding Windows Update service is running.
We go back to the Services section from before, to search in this case for the Windows Update service and check that the status of the service is shown running, otherwise, we start it.