Re: Windows XP auto updates stinks!!

"home_user" <shoorazeel@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:f5kXg.3672$gU6.652@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:


The reminder is not a configurable feature that I turned ON. This is
the way it works on several Windows XP professional PC's that I use.
I do not believe it can be turned OFF.

Setting the mouse-pointer to go to the default mouse button is a
convenience feature that I am sure many users take advantage off.
Microsoft's Quality Assurance department should have software tests
that include this mouse pointer functionality being turned ON.

I clicked on my application. However, since the Windows Update
reminder dialog came up so fast, the click went to the default button
on the Windows Update dialog. Hence, the PC was restarted.




"Bruce Chambers" <bchambers@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23LN7XxZ7GHA.1244@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand
Russell




Hard to fathom anyone would post something as nitpicky as this...
- change the mouse pointer behaviour
- change the way Windows Update Works
- learn how tie your own shoelaces

NG
.