Fix: Windows Update service keeps getting disabled

When you enable and start the Windows Update and BITS services, they may get disabled automatically after a few seconds.

A background service may be disabling Windows Update and related services, such as BITS, Delivery Optimization, WaasMedicSvc, etc.

Resolution

To verify if a third-party service is turning off the Windows Update and BITS services, disable all non-Microsoft services using the System Configuration tool and restart Windows.

Turn off third-party services

1. Launch msconfig.exe, and select the “Services” tab.
2. Enable “Hide all Microsoft services”. The list will now show only the third-party services. This is an important step.
   
   
3. Click Disable all.
4. Reboot the computer.
5. Launch the Services MMC, and re-enable Windows Update (set it to “Manual”)

After a restart, see if the Windows Update startup type is intact (“Manual”). If so, the next part is to re-enable a set of services at a time and reboot to find the offending service.

So, which service is the culprit?

Bisect the list and re-enable the first half. Reboot. If the Windows Update service is disabled, set it to Manual. Then, narrow down the service that has caused the problem from the first half of the services. Repeat these steps until you’ve isolated the issue to a single service.

For example, you may have a program like “StopUpdates10” or “NoVirusThanks Win Update Stop” installed. These programs disable the Windows Update services at specific intervals. In this case, the name of the service is “StopUpdates10 Guard“.

Uninstalling the program should let you install updates via Windows Update.

Similar to “StopUpdates10”, the “NoVirusThanks Win Update Stop” program runs as a service. The details are below:

Uninstalling these programs should do the trick!

Also, don’t rule out malware. Check out this article for more information Windows Update services are deleted at every restart.