Re: Windows XP auto updates stinks!!

home_user wrote:
Once the Windows XP auto-updates mechanism installs the updates on the system, a dialog keeps coming up - every few minutes - asking "Do you want to restart the PC".



How curious. I've *never* seen any such reminder. Why do you have you Update feature so configured, if it annoys you so?


The dialog has two buttons:
1) restart now (the default)
2) restart later

Of course, the genius who designed this annoying dialog made the "restart now" the default button.


As a convenience for users, certainly. This is common practice among software developers.


And because I have set the mouse pointer to automatically move to the default button in a dialog, the mouse pointer points to the "restart now" button.


Now, how could anyone elso possibly know that you deliberately set you mouse to such an unsafe (data-protection-wise) option?


I was working on something important and then this STUPID dialog comes up and the mouse pointer is automatically on the "restart now" button. My mouse click was meant for a different application.


Were that the case, the pointer wouldn't have been anywhere near the default button, would it. In fact, that reminder dialog box shouldn't even have been "active>"


However, this stupid dialog comes up and the "restart now" is pressed without giving me a chance to save any of my work or any of the web pages I had opened.



Ah..... Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you the one who clicked the mouse button without paying any attention to where the cursor was located? I'd say that, given the way you've configured your system, you got exactly the kind of behavior you wanted.


This has happened to me before.


I can see it happening once, the first time you ever used the OS and installed updates, but if you made the same mistake more than once, it's definitely no one's fault but your own.

This system is not user friendly at all.


On the contrary; it's dumb-down to the point that I almost dislike using it. It's far too simple.


Now I have turned OFF the stupid automatic updates.


Well, as it was never a good idea to let updates install automatically, anyway, this is all to the good. I really don't like to see people use the Automatic Updates, unless they take precautions to ensure that no patches get installed without the user's express permission, given only after he/she has researched each individual patch to ensure that it applies and is necessary. Due to the nearly infinite number of possible combinations of hardware, device drivers, and applications on any given PC, it's impossible to guarantee that all patches will be 100% harmless. In a very small number of cases, patches and hotfixes can cause conflicts or other problems. So, as with all changes to an OS, caution is advised.

All "Critical" updates should be installed. These address serious issues that can affect a large number of computers. There will be only rare occasions when a Critical update will not apply. Of special importance are those that address security vulnerabilities. If people had installed the available critical updates in July of 2003, the Blaster and Welchia worms would not have spread throughout the Internet the following month. In the unlikely event that problems do develop, you can always use the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs applet or a System Restore Point to uninstall the troublesome hotfix.

For the "Recommended" updates, simply study the information provided to see if these updates apply in your specific situation. If they don't apply, or you're not experiencing the problem(s) addressed, you needn't install them. For instance, I have no use for WinXP's MovieMaker, so I ignore any updates to it. Again, in the unlikely event that problems do develop, you can always use the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs applet or a System Restore Point to uninstall the troublesome hotfix.

In general, though, I've found it best not to download the "Driver" updates from Windows Update, unless they're for a hardware device originally manufactured by Microsoft. Device drivers provided by each component's manufacturer's web site are likely to perform better and offer more features than will the watered-down, "generic" drivers that those manufacturers provide to Microsoft for distribution via Windows Update.



I hate it!!


Wouldn't be more productive to learn a little about using your computer, rather than venting spleen?


And why does the reminder have to come up so often? If I said, "restart later", I am responsible for the consequences. I don't want to be interrupted or reminded every 5 minutes or so.


Then look for a way to turn off the reminder.


This is a really terrible design!!!


Not once you've configured it to meet your needs.


is there any way to prevent Windows XP from continuing to shut down - so important work can be saved - once the shutdown process has started?



You could try to click Start > Run, and enter "shutdown -a" if you're fast enough.


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Bruce Chambers

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