How to stop Windows Update from changing the Sleep button function?

Vista tries hard to take care of us - and sometimes it tries a little too hard. One big annoyance is the habit of changing the Sleep button to "Install updates and shut down" when there are new updates. If you want to change this behavior, you can do so by editing the registry. Here's how:

1. Open your registry editor and navigate to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Windows \ WindowsUpdate\AU
   
2. In the right details pane, right click an empty space and select New DWORD value
   
3. Name the new value NoAUAsDefaultShutdownOption
   
4. Double click the new value and set the value data field to 1
   

This makes Vista stop replacing the Sleep option with the Install Updates option, but the latter will still be available as a separate option on the Shutdown menu.