Windows 8: Prevent Windows Update's Automatic Rebooting

It's annoying if the computer is left on at night with unsaved work on it, then come back to it in the morning and find that it was rebooted.

When new patches are downloaded and installed on the computer by Windows Update (if its enabled) this feature will automatically reboot the system. So if there's any unsaved work, it will be lost.

To prevent Windows Update from performing this action, follow the instructions below:

Note: This tip requires modifying the Windows Registry so proceed at your own risk.

• Open the Windows Registry Editor, from the Search field under the Start screen, type "REGEDIT" and press the Enter key.
• Navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU (note: manually create some of these keys.)
• Right-click an empty space in the right pane and select New > DWORD value.
• Name the new value NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers
• Set the value in the field to 1, press the OK button.
• Close the registry editor when done.