How do I set things so I don't have to approve every single "Security Intelligence Update for Microsoft Defender Antivirus" every single day?

[GrantRobertson]

I tried the utility and the feature for needing to approve Windows Updates. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that that would also force me to go to Settings every single day and approve the "Security Intelligence Update for Microsoft Defender Antivirus." I tried resetting Windows Updates to the defaults, but that didn't seem to do anything. I still get a notification to go to Settings and approve that "Security Intelligence Update for Microsoft Defender Antivirus" every single day.

I don't mind needing to approve all other updates. But, is there a way for me to set things so that these security updates get installed automatically, without me needing to go in and approve them every day?

Edit: I poked around in Settings and found that the setting is controlled by Group Policy:

It seems to me that, if everything was set back to defaults, then it should not appear as anything being set in Group Policy.

If someone could tell me exactly where I can fix this in the Group Policy Editor, that would be awesome. Thanks.

[GrantRobertson]

Naturally, posting a help request inspires one to go digging even further.

I have found this page in Microsoft's support. Unfortunately, the "folder" in Group Policy Editor that they say to go to: "Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows update\Configure Automatic Updates" does not seem to exist. Instead, I see this:

And all the policies in all those "folders" show as "Not Configured."

So, now, I really don't know what to do. Windows Settings is telling me I have a Group Policy set, but all the related Group Policies seem to not be set.

[GrantRobertson]

Scrolling down in the Microsoft Support Article, I found this section. It says to go to the Registry Editor and look for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU. Here is what I found:

Unfortunately, the article does not say how to set the AUOptions entry if I just want installs to all happen automatically again. I am presuming that I should either set the option to '0' or just delete the AUOptions entry altogether.

But that still wouldn't get me what I want. Is it even possible to have the "Security Intelligence Update for Microsoft Defender Antivirus" install automatically, while still needing to approve all the other updates?

For now, I am going to try setting AUOptions to '0' and see how that goes. I'll keep y'all updated.

[GrantRobertson]

Well, I set AUOptions to '0' and when I go back to Windows Settings, it still says the same thing:

So, now I am utterly clueless. Where the heck else could this value be set to 3?

I am going to try to just delete the AUOptions entry altogether and see what happens. (Yes, I backed up that registry "folder," just in case.)

[GrantRobertson]

Yup. No change. Windows Settings still says that value is set to 3..... somewhere.

Where else could it be set?