Disabling AutoUpdate Service in Control Panel Does Not Shut Down the Service

If you disable the AutoUpdate service by accessing the AutoUpdate properties page, you set the computer for manual updates. This causes the AutoUpdate icon to disappear from the notification area, but the automatic update service will still be running.

In Control Panel, if you double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Services, you see that Startup Type for AutoUpdate is still set to Automatic.

AutoUpdate is an always on service. Disabling this service by accessing the properties disables only the client behavior.

This behavior is by design.

To locate the AutoUpdate properties, in Control Panel, double-click System Properties, and then click the Automatic Updates tab.