Windows 10: Why Are Restarts Outside of Active Hours so Unpredictable?

Greetings All,


I have had really bad frustrations with the unpredictability of Focus Assist and Active Hours ever since build 1809 on Windows 10 and this has now carried over on two PC’s; a Dell Desktop and a Toshiba Laptop. Here are some observations for the Microsoft Answers Community:


I have my Active Hours set from 7am to 11 PM on both computers. I also have notices checked to receive restart notifications. I will get the typical two notifications about the restarts sometimes on Patch Tuesday or the following day.

Sometimes the restarts are fine going without a hitch within about 1-2 hours after the first update notice. Other times for the past two YEARS I keep getting “Your Computer Will Need to Start Outside of Active Hours”, sometimes for FOUR OR FINE DAYS! The restart is not kicking in after the range of Active Hours have ended. This means, that from 11:O1PM to 7:01 AM I am not getting the restarts outside of Active Hours that Action Center says are waiting. Sometimes I just restart the computer through the Windows Start logo button I can’t stand waiting anymore.


What algorithms determine when these restarts happen outside of Active Hours? Why is there a delay of up to four or five days for a restart to occur for Restarts to happen outside of Active Hours? Microsoft needs to get a more definitive time for when the computer is set to restart outside of Active Hours and we need to see this in the Action Center toaster pop-up. Right-now, we have to go to Change Active Hours Settings to pick a day and time, if we don’t want to wait for the restart tick to take effect.


A new problem with Windows build 1909 is that updates will sit in the Windows Update query on BOTH PC’s “Pending Download” or “Pending Install” UNLESS I go into Advanced Windows Update settings and turn on, “Download Updates Over Metered Connection “is turned on. Never had this issue before build 1909, but have anywhere from same day to five day waits on restarts after Active Hours, since Windows Build 1803.


Ran every troubleshooter, Scan Disk, and sometimes several MONTHS will go by where the updates install fine after After Hours have passed. Other times it is a guessing game as to when the auto restart to install updates will happen. Not really interested in looking for solutions. Too tired of playing “tech guy.” The goal of this thread is to share these experiences with the community.



Regards,


Jack

:)

 

windows 10 is NOT restarting after a windows update even if is outside of active hours.

I start windows updates on my system and leave for dinner, expecting the updates to be finished and the system re-booted when i return.

when i return at 7:30 pm (outside of active hours) i find the update status screen with a status of "awaiting restart"

"your device is scheduled to restart outside of active hours. (Active hours are 8:00 am to 5:00 pm)"

If i click on "restart now" everything completes normally.

I have a screen print showing this information along with the system clock showing that the current time is outside of active hours (is it possible to post that screen print here?)

This is NOT a new problem and actually happens on more than one PC, but i am getting tired of going though the extra steps and waiting for completion of this process that should have already finished while i was away from my PC.

Why won't my system reboot outside of active hours after updates are complete?

Windows 10 pro

version 1709

os build 16299.334

Active hours are 8am to 5pm.

 

windows 10 is not restarting during scheduled to restart outside of active hours.

It has now been 4 days since my computer began saying "Your device is scheduled to restart outside of active hours. (Active hours are ‏‎6:00 AM to ‏‎6:00 PM.)" It did this during the October update, also, I finally clicked on "restart now" to get it to
finish the install.

Before the October update is was doing the updates automatically, any ideas on why it is not working the way it is suppose to now.

 

Installing Updates and Restarting During my Active Hours?

Hi,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



We understand the inconvenience caused to you as the Active Hour feature is not working as it should be.
In order to get clarity and to assist you accordingly, please reply with the answers to the questions below.

• What is the Windows 10 version and Build installed? (Type
  winver in Windows search/Run command)
  
• Are you aware of any recent changes on the PC, prior to this issue?

Meanwhile, we would suggest you to perform these steps and check if that fix the issue.



Configuring active hours with Group Policy.



Please refer the section for Configure active hours
and make the changes accordingly. If the PC installed with Windows 10 Pro then follow the steps under
Configuring active hours with Group Policy and if it is
Windows 10 Home then follow steps under Configuring active hours through Registry
from this article: Manage device restarts after updates.



Note: Important this section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify
the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.



Follow the steps to take
backup of registry.




Please let us know the status of the issue,



Aditya Roy

Microsoft Community – Moderator