I would like to turn off automatic updates for Windows 7, and have tried to do so following the instructions here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-nz/windows/turn-automatic-updating-on-off#turn-automatic-updating-on-off=windows-7
However, in "Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Windows Update\Change settings" I get a little information box saying "Some settings are managed by your system administrator." and the dropmenu under "Important updates" is greyed out and I can't make any changes.
I've tried opening the control panel as the administrator, but this does not resolve the problem.
This is on a personal laptop (ASUS UX31) that nobody else has ever used, so the only thing that I can think is that this was set by the manufacturer.
Best Answer
Taken from the following link.
There are a few places to stop Automatic Updates, but they all depend on the Automatic Updates Service to be running to work.
Disable the Automatic Updates Service and it all stops.
Start>Run>Services.msc>Automatic Updates>>> Double-Click and click dropdown box, select "Disabled" then click "Stop" Then click Ok.
Also, to speed up boot-time, Start>Control Panel>System>Automatic Updates(tab)>"Turn off Automatic Updates"
This prevents Windows from trying to start the service at boot-time, wasting time, and keeps this error out of the event viewer.