Enable Windows Update Access

Summary

The script will overwrite the DisableWindowsUpdateAccess registry key if it's set at the computer or user level. This ensures that Windows update access is not disabled for the machine, users, or the system account.

Sample Run

Task Creation

Create a new Script Editor style script in the system to implement this task.

Name: Enable Windows Update Access
Description: Set the DisableWindowsUpdateAccess registry key to 0 if it's set to 1. Setting it to 1 disables Windows access and can be set at both computer and user levels.
Category: Patching

Task

Navigate to the Script Editor section and start by adding a row. You can do this by clicking the Add Row button at the bottom of the script page.

A blank function will appear.

Row 1 Function: PowerShell Script

Search and select the PowerShell Script function.

The following function will pop up on the screen:

Paste in the following PowerShell script and set the expected time of script execution to 600 seconds. Click the Save button.

#region Strapper
$ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Enum]::ToObject([Net.SecurityProtocolType], 3072)
Get-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -ForceBootstrap | Out-Null
Set-PSRepository -Name PSGallery -InstallationPolicy Trusted
try {
    Update-Module -Name Strapper -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
    Install-Module -Name Strapper -Repository PSGallery -SkipPublisherCheck -Force
    Get-Module -Name Strapper -ListAvailable | Where-Object { $_.Version -ne (Get-InstalledModule -Name Strapper).Version } | ForEach-Object { Uninstall-Module -Name Strapper -MaximumVersion $_.Version }
}
(Import-Module -Name 'Strapper') 3>&1 2>&1 1>$null
Set-StrapperEnvironment
#endregion
#Overwriting Disabled windows access for System account
$pathArray = @(
    'Registry::HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-18\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate',
    'Registry::HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-18\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU',
    'Registry::HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-18\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate'
    'Registry::HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-18\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate\AU'
) 
foreach ($path in $pathArray) {
    if ( (Get-ItemProperty -Path $path -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).DisableWindowsUpdateAccess -ge 1 ) {
        Write-Output 'Enabling Windows Update Access to the System Account.'
        try {
            if ( !(Test-Path $path) ) {
                New-Item -Path $path -Force -Confirm:$false -ErrorAction Stop | Out-Null
            }
            Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name DisableWindowsUpdateAccess -Value 0 -Force -ErrorAction Stop
        } catch {
            throw "Failed to enable Windows Update Access for the system account. Reason: $($Error[0].Exception.Message)"
        }
    }
    
}
#Overwriting Disabled windows access for computer
$pathArray = @(
    'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate',
    'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU',
    'HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate'
    'HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate\AU'
)
foreach ($path in $pathArray) {
    $Path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate'
    if ( (Get-ItemProperty -Path $path -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).DisableWindowsUpdateAccess -ge 1 ) {
        Write-Output 'Enabling Windows Update Access to the Computer.'
        try {
            Set-RegistryKeyProperty -Path $path -Name DisableWindowsUpdateAccess -Value 0 -Force -ErrorAction Stop
        } catch {
            throw "Failed to enable Windows Update Access for the computer. Reason: $($Error[0].Exception.Message)"
        }
    }
}
#Overwriting Disabled windows access for users
$pathArray = @(
    'Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate',
    'Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU',
    'Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate'
    'Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate\AU'
)
foreach ($path in $pathArray) {
    if ( Get-UserRegistryKeyProperty -Path $Path -Name DisableWindowsUpdateAccess -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object { $_.Value -ge 1 } ) {
        Set-UserRegistryKeyProperty -Path $path -Name DisableWindowsUpdateAccess -Value 0 -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -WarningAction SilentlyContinue
        $failedUsers = Get-UserRegistryKeyProperty -Path $Path -Name DisableWindowsUpdateAccess -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object { $_.Value -ge 1 }
        if ( $failedUsers ) {
            throw "Failed to enable Windows Update Access for the Users. $($failedUsers -join ', ')"
        }
    }
}

Row 2 Function: Script Log

Add a new row by clicking the Add Row button.

A blank function will appear.

Search and select the Script Log function.

The following function will pop up on the screen:

In the script log message, simply type %output% and click the Save button.

Click the Save button at the top-right corner of the screen to save the script.

Completed Task

Output

• Script log