How to Change Windows Update Settings When Managed or Disabled by System Administrator?

I'm writing this tutorial specially for Windows 10 but this tutorial will also work in all previous Windows versions.

Imagine a situation when your system administrator or a 3rd party software or a malware disabled/restricted Windows Update settings page. In such situations, you won't be able to change Windows Update settings because all available options would be grayed out.
Same thing happened in Windows 10. Since Windows 10 is under development and testing, Microsoft has disabled customization of Windows Update settings because they want Windows to automatically download and install all preview updates. Microsoft don't want testers to modify those settings to prevent them from disabling Automatic Updates.
If you open Windows Update settings page in Windows 10, you get following screen:

You can see the message "Some settings are managed by your system administrator" at top and you can't change settings of automatically download and install Windows updates in the drop-down box.
Now the problem is that Windows will automatically download and install new updates without your knowledge and you'll have no idea when and which updates Windows installed. If you are on a limited bandwidth or slow Internet connection, you may want to change the settings to notify you before downloading and installing the updates so that you can select which updates do you want to install and when.
If you are using Windows 10 or any previous Windows version and want to be able to change Windows Update settings, this guide will help you.
Today in this article, we are going to tell you methods to remove this restriction and to be able to modify Windows Update settings as shown in following screenshot:

We can remove system Administrator restriction from Windows Update settings using following 2 methods:

• METHOD 1: Using Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)
• METHOD 2: Using Registry Editor (regedit.exe)

So without wasting time lets start the tutorial:

METHOD 1: Using Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)

1. Type gpedit.msc in RUN or Start search box and press Enter. It'll open Group Policy Editor.
2. Now go to:

Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update

3. In right-side pane, look for "Configure Automatic Updates" option.

4. The option would be set to Not Configured. Double-click on it and set it to Enabled.
Now select any of the given options according to your requirements:

• 2 - Notify for download and notify for install
• 3 - Auto download and notify for install
• 4 - Auto download and schedule the install
• 5 - Allow local admin to choose setting

PS: Select the last option "5 - Allow local admin to choose setting" to be able to choose options in drop-down box on Windows Update settings page.
That's it. Apply changes and open Windows Update settings page. Now you'll be able to change desired settings.

METHOD 2: Using Registry Editor (regedit.exe)

If you can't use or don't want to use Group Policy Editor, you can take help of Registry Editor for the same task. Just follow these simple steps:
1. Type regedit in RUN or Start search box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.
2. Now go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

3. Create a new key under Windows key and set its name as WindowsUpdate
4. Create another new key under WindowsUpdate key and set its name as AU
So the final key path would be:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

5. Now select AU key and in right-side pane create a new DWORD AUOptions and set its value to any of following according to your requirements:

• 2 (To notify for download and notify for install)
• 3 (To auto download and notify for install)
• 4 (To auto download and schedule the install)
• 5 (To allow local admin to choose setting)

PS: Set the value of AUOptions to 5 to be able to choose options in drop-down box on Windows Update settings page.
6. Close Registry Editor and open Windows Update settings page. Now you'll be able to change desired settings.

How to Create Bootable USB Drive of Windows Setup without Using Any Software?

As you know, a bootable USB drive comes handy in many situations such as re-installing Windows operating system or recovering from critical errors (like refreshing your PC, etc). There are several free tools available such as A Bootable USB, Rufus and Microsoft's official Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool to create bootable USB drive to install Windows as mentioned in following article:
Ultimate Collection of Best Freeware to Create Bootable USB Drive to Install Windows
But did you know you can create bootable USB drives of Windows setup without using any extra software? Yes, you heard it right. By following a few simple steps, you can make your own bootable USB drive to install Windows OS without any 3rd party software.
This manual method requires only 3 steps:

• STEP 1: Format USB drive (optional)
• STEP 2: Mount or extract Windows setup ISO file
• STEP 3: Copy Windows setup files to USB drive

Please note that this method can be used to create bootable USB drive of Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows8/8.1 and Windows 10. This method doesn't work for Windows XP bootable USB drive.
So without any further delay let's start the tutorial:

STEP 1: Prepare USB Drive as Per Requirements

If you want to make Windows Vista or Windows 7 bootable USB drive, a 4GB USB drive will be sufficient. But, if you want to make a bootable drive of Windows 8, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, you'll need an 8GB USB drive.
Now format the USB drive using FAT32 or NTFS file system. We recommend formatting the USB drive using NTFS file system for better compatibility with newer Windows versions.
To format USB drive, attach the drive to your computer system, open Windows Explorer, right-click on the USB drive icon and select Format option.

This step is optional. If you don't want to format your USB drive, you can skip this step but make sure there is enough free disk space on your USB drive to copy Windows setup files.

STEP 2: Mount or Extract Windows Setup ISO Image File

Now you'll need to extract all files from Windows setup ISO. You can extract the files using a file archive software such as 7-Zip, WinRAR, etc.
If you are using Windows 8 or later, you don't need to use any file archive utility, you can direct mount the ISO file as a virtual drive in Windows Explorer. You can do this by right-clicking on ISO image file and then selecting "Mount" option.

It will immediately mount the ISO file of Windows setup as a virtual DVD drive in Windows Explorer.

STEP 3: Copy Windows Setup Files to USB Drive

Now you just need to copy all files from extracted or mounted Windows ISO to your USB drive.

That's all. You have successfully made a bootable USB drive which can be used for all purposes as mentioned in the beginning of the tutorial

Speed Up Windows 7 – Master Tutorial to Make Windows 7 Super Fast

This is the 3rd tutorial of our "Master Tutorial" series. We have already posted 2 other tutorials for Windows XP and Windows Vista in past and now its turn of Windows 7.
Although Windows 7 is already very fast and reliable but this tutorial will help you in getting the max performance out of your system.
So without wasting any time, here we start our tutorial:
1. Registry Tweaks:
Following topic contains a few registry tweaks to optimize your system performance and add a few useful extras:


You just need to download the ZIP file, extract it and run the file. It'll ask for confirmation, accept it. Restart your system to take affect.
2. Right-click on Computer icon on Desktop and select Properties (or press WIN + Pause/Break keys). Now click on Advanced system settings link in left side pane (You can open it directly by giving sysdm.cpl command in RUN or start menu search box). Now click on Settings button in Performance section:

It'll open another window. Disable all unnecessary options in Visual Effects tab, you can leave following options enabled according to your requirements:

• Enable Aero Peek (If you want to use Aero Peek feature)
• Enable desktop composition (If you want to use Windows Aero theme)
• Enable transparent glass (If you want to use transparency in Windows)
• Show thumbnails instead of icons (If you want to show thumbnails in Explorer)
• Show window contents while dragging (If you want windows to show contents while moving them)
• Smooth edges of screen fonts (If you want to show smooth fonts)
• Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop (If you want to show shadows under desktop icon labels)
• Use visual styles on windows and buttons (If you want to use Windows Aero or Basic theme)

3. Open Windows Explorer and go to "Organize -> Folder and Search Options" and click on "View" tab.
Now disable following options:

• Display file size information in folder tips
• Hide extensions for known file types
• Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color
• Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items

4. Right-click on Computer icon on Desktop and select Manage (You can also open it directly by giving services.msc command in RUN or start menu search box).
Now go to Services & Applications -> Services. Here you can set a few unnecessary services to Manual, so that these services don't start automatically with Windows and you can get a faster startup.

Visit following tutorial to know which services can be set to MANUAL to increase system performance:
Windows 7 Services Configuration: Turn Off / Disable Unnecessary Services to Optimize Performance
5. Type msconfig in RUN or Start Menu search box and press Enter. Now go to Startup tab and disable unwanted startup entries. You can disable your graphics card's driver utility, Sound Card utility, etc to speed up the system startup and to increase system performance.

6. Open Sound applet in Control Panel (or type mmsys.cpl in RUN or Start Menu search box and press Enter). Now go to Sounds tab and select No Sounds from Sound Scheme section. You can keep some of your favorite sounds enabled but make sure to set Exit Windows, Windows Log off, Windows Logon and Start Navigation to (None).

Also disable "Play Windows Startup sound" option to disable the sound clip which is played at login screen.
7. Also don't forget to:

• Install only necessary software
• Use the latest device drivers
• Keep your Windows up-to-date

After following all the above mentioned points, you'll definitely notice major improvements in your Windows 7 performance

Essential Tips To Speed Up Windows 7

Essential Tips To Speed Up Windows 7

 

Visual and Sound Related

1. Using minimal Visual Effects

Disabling certain (or all) visual effects can definitely enhance performance. To disable visual effects, do the following:

1. Press Windows key and while holding it down, press Pause/Break key.
2. In the window that appears, click on Advanced system settings in the left side pane.
3. In the Advanced tab, under Performance Section, click on Settings
4. In the Performance Options window (refer figure) that appears, under Visual Effects tab, disable the options that you do not need. Or simply selecting ‘Adjust for best performance‘ will disable all options.
5. After disabling the option, click Apply and then OK.

Doing the above might make the screen less attractive. But, the performance will surely get a boost.

 

2. Using minimal Sound Effects

For disabling sound effects, do the following:

1. Click Start. In the search box type mmsys.cpl and press Enter
2. In the Sound window (refer figure) that appears click on Sounds tab
3. Set the Sounds scheme to ‘No Sounds‘
4. You could set only the essential sounds if needed in the Program Events, by selecting the specific event and then choosing the sound from the Sounds drop-down menu below.
5. You can as well disable the "Play Windows Startup sound" option.
6. After the settings are done, click Apply and OK.

Software and Services related

1. Run a trusted Anti-Virus program

Ensure that you have a good anti-virus software loaded on your laptop/computer. This will ensure that no malware or spyware gets planted in your system. Without such protection software, there are chances of third party malware and virus being installed or stored on your system, causing harmful effects and also eating up precious space.

2. Install only essential software

Ensure that you install only that software which you need. If you install any trial software and find out that you don’t really need it, uninstall and delete it immediately. Else, they might hog precious disk space, RAM and processor cycles. If you’ve installed a software, which you are unable to get rid of, and which is hampering the normal functioning of your laptop, then you might have to format your hard drive. Be aware that formatting your hard drive might wipe out all your data. Therefore it is best you take a back-up before going ahead with formatting.

3. Disable or make unneeded services Manual

Some processes and services, which might not really be necessary, are by default made to start automatically once the system starts up. They will consume RAM as well as the processor’s attention, slowing down other important tasks. It is best to disable them. For this, do the following:

1. Click Start. In the search box type services.msc and press Enter
2. Go to Services & Applications > Services. You’ll see the Services window (refer figure).
3. Right-click on a service that you wish to set to manual or disable. If the service is already started, Stop it first.
4. Once the service is stopped, again right-click on it and select Properties.
5. In the Startup type, you can either set the service to Manual, if you would be using it later, or Disable it, if not needed.
6. Once done, you can close the window.

Hard Drive related

1. Clean up the hard drive

Remove unwanted files, like temp files, downloaded program files, recycle bin, etc. You could use Disk Cleanup option to do this, as follows:

1. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup
2. The system will first calculate how much space can be freed up this way. In the Disk Cleanup window (refer figure) that appears, select the files in that need to be deleted under the Files to delete list.
3. For deleting ‘System Restore‘ and ‘Shadow copy‘ files, click "Clean up system files" and then on "More Options" tab
4. Finally click OK. You’ll be prompted again before the deletion. Click Yes.

2. Enable Write caching on device

This is an option which allows the OS to flush changed data to the hard disk when the system is idle, so that performance is not affected when in use. For enabling this, do the following:

1. Press Windows key and while holding it down, press Pause/Break key.
2. In the window that appears, click on Device Manager in the left hand pane.
3. In the next window that appears, expand Disk drives.
4. The drop-down list will show the hard drive. Right-click on it and select Properties.
5. Click the Policies tab in the Device Properties window (refer figure).
6. Check the box next to "Enable write caching on the device"
7. You can as well check the box next to "Turn off Windows write-cache buffer flushing on the device" and then click OK.

Note: However, there is one disadvantage in enabling these options – if there is a power outage or a system crash, data might be lost or corrupted. If you have a secondary power supply, like a UPS, you could go ahead with checking these options.

3. Perform Disk Defragmentation

When there is no sufficient space to store in a hard drive, the OS splits the file into parts and stores it in different areas on the hard drive. Defragmenting allows all these parts to be stored in contiguous memory locations. For defragmenting disk do the following:

1. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter
2. In the window (refer figure) that appears, click on the drive that you want to defragment and then click Analyze disk.
3. This will estimate the time required for the process. When done click on Defragment disk.
4. Once done you can either View Report or click Close.

These pretty much sum up the small things that you can do, to make a big difference to your Windows 7’s performance. If you have some personal tips you’ve done yourself to improve the performances, we’d like to hear from you.



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