Is there any real way to stop auto-restart after updates (no, GPO, regedit DO NOT work)

I'm aware of GPO ( "configure automatic updates" and regedit. None of these work as they, occasionally, get ignored by Windows. Is there any concrete way beyond these to disable auto restart? Under no circumstance do I want an auto-restart of my pc, even if it could stop a war or worldwide hunger, and it seems there's no actual solution anywhere within Windows.

disable auto updates and use the shutdown event tracker. i've never had a random auto restart from anything.... to include WU

these 2 GPO


and if you want to silence "updates available" toast notifications:

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You might try this.
Windows update uses a scheduled task called "Reboot". Disabling it stops forced restarts permanently.

1. Open Task Scheduler
2. Go to:Task Scheduler Library → Microsoft → Windows → UpdateOrchestrator
3. Find the task named Reboot
4. Right‑click → Disable
5. Also disable Reboot_AC and Reboot_Battery if present

This is the only method Windows Update cannot override without major OS changes. However there is always a chance this task can be automatically enabled when a major OS change comes down the pike..

Then reinforce it using the "no auto reboot" registry key. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UX\Settings

Create or set:​

• DWORD: NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers
• Value: 1

This tells Windows Update not to reboot when someone is logged in. But again — Windows sometimes ignores it unless the Reboot task is disabled.

I would find out what's rebooting the PC first. The attached PowerShell script gets Windows Update events and reboot events, and saves them to a file on the desktop. You can run this script and attach the resulting text file to a post, so we can see what's what.