If you’re a Windows user, you may have noticed that the shutdown button doesn’t work as usual when Windows Update tries to install new updates. This is because Windows Update is hijacking the sleep/shutdown button, and it’s not working properly anymore. To fix this, you can use one of the following methods:

  1. Disable Windows Update by going to Control Panel > System and Security > System Services and select Disable.
  2. Use a third-party software to disable Windows Update instead of using the Control Panel. Some good options include Microsoft’s own uninstaller or an add-on from the Google Chrome Web Store.
  3. Try resetting your computer’s clock to default before trying to disable Windows Update again. This will help stop Windows Update from hijacking the shutdown button in the first place.

After the last time I accidentally clicked this stupid button when I just wanted to enter sleep mode, I decided to look for a solution.

Update: Windows 7 does the same thing to my Shutdown button, and this same registry hack fixes the problem.

Manual Registry Hack

If you’d like to manually create this hack, you can open up regedit.exe using the start menu search box and then browse down to the following key, creating the key if it doesn’t exist.

Add a 32-bit DWORD value called NoAUAsDefaultShutdownOption with a value of 1. No reboot should be necessary.

Now our Sleep button should be back to the way it was, but if you wanted to use the Install Updates and Shut Down option, it’s still available via the shutdown menu:

Download Registry Hack

Unzip the file and double-click on the StopHijackingMySleepButton.reg file to activate the registry hack. You shouldn’t have to restart anything, as the changes will happen immediately. There’s also a registry file to uninstall the hack.

I believe there is a similar option for XP, but I’m guessing the key is located in a different place.

Download StopHijackingMySleepButton Registry Hack