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.
