[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Should I Turn Off Automatic Updates? here

[chances14]

if you're on a satellite internet connection, it's a no brainer to disable auto updates. otherwise you will eat through your cap in no time

[RAliARAid]

Turn it off!!

[A41202813]

Entering The Devils Advocate...

About Lack Of Updates...

My XP SP3 Firewall Is Always Up And My AV Is Religiously Updated Every Week.

--- Unupdated M$ ---

In The Summer Of 2009 Some Update(s), ( I Still Do Not Know Which One(s) ), Zombied My Machine.

After 6 Months Of Computer Hell, I Decided To UnInstall All Updates I Could, And, With The Following OS Installations, I Only Installed The Ones Necessary For My Machine To Work.

Right Now, I Only Have Installed KB892130 And KB898461, And I Plan To Keep It That Way, Before Or After APRIL 2014.

I Use IE8 Just To Check Which Updates I Keep Avoiding.

I Do Not Use IE9 Because M$ Does Not Allow Newer IE Versions For XP.

I Do Not Use Any Other Browser Because M$ Does Not Allow Updates To Be Checked By Anything Else Than IE.

--- Unupdated FF ---

I Keep Using Legacy Version 3628 Because Some AddOns, I Depend On, Were Not Updated For The Newer Versions.

I Will Keep Using FF For The Stupid, And Rare, Sites That Still Do Not Care For Customers That Use CHROME.

[Jahosacat]

I have get the notifications, but, do NOT have them installed automatically. I make the decisions myself about which ones to install and which ones to ignore.

[JamesMIK]

In Win XP Pro I have Windows download the updates and notify me. If in a week or two I do not read any bad comments in PC World or C Net I Install them.Ctrl Panel-Security-Auto Updates @ bottom of window-check Download but let me choose install.

[julio99]

Jahosacat, on 18 May 2012 - 06:55 AM, said:

I have get the notifications, but, do NOT have them installed automatically. I make the decisions myself about which ones to install and which ones to ignore.

IMHO this is the best way to go about it too. This way you can pick and choose which ones to keep and which ones to pass on.

[blaineclrk]

I agree almost completely with A41202813. I had a nightmare of a summer in 2009 also, spent more time restoring, fixing, quarreling with MS support than I did working. Lost way too much time. I ditched MS and went to Linux Ubuntu. A nephew and his wife disabled all updates almost a year ago when they had trouble with updates last year. Their machine slowed to a crawl in a bit under a year. I got on it with a Live Ubuntu CD with ClamAV and found 30+ viruses! MS's anti-virus + firewall package didn't cut the mustard. Third party AV and firewall may have been better. I spent the better part of a day installing only top security updates after a thorough cleanup. They still have some issues due to the updates and won't consider looking at Linux. Myself; I'll never go back to MS. I use Ubuntu and Mint Linux and ocassionally try others to see how they feel. On two boxes I have updates set and on others updates are off. No problems with either setup on Linux. No one has made a good tax prep package for Linux for the US because there isn't much of a demand ... yet. There are tax packages for a couple other countries so it's just a matter of time. Turbo-Tax and others may run fine through the WINE package on Linux and if they do, you don't have to contend with MS updates in WINE! Worth exploring IMO.

[nuemonicmike]

If you make your living in IT you don't update anything automatically, you test, update, and then install. One of the best tests is time. If Micorsoft updates on patch tuesday, you update a week later. that is test 1!

[brainout]

A41202813, on 14 May 2012 - 09:32 AM, said:

Entering The Devils Advocate...

About Lack Of Updates...

My XP SP3 Firewall Is Always Up And My AV Is Religiously Updated Every Week.

--- Unupdated M$ ---

In The Summer Of 2009 Some Update(s), ( I Still Do Not Know Which One(s) ), Zombied My Machine.

After 6 Months Of Computer Hell, I Decided To UnInstall All Updates I Could, And, With The Following OS Installations, I Only Installed The Ones Necessary For My Machine To Work.

Right Now, I Only Have Installed KB892130 And KB898461, And I Plan To Keep It That Way, Before Or After APRIL 2014.

I Use IE8 Just To Check Which Updates I Keep Avoiding.

I Do Not Use IE9 Because M$ Does Not Allow Newer IE Versions For XP.

I Do Not Use Any Other Browser Because M$ Does Not Allow Updates To Be Checked By Anything Else Than IE.

--- Unupdated FF ---

I Keep Using Legacy Version 3628 Because Some AddOns, I Depend On, Were Not Updated For The Newer Versions.

I Will Keep Using FF For The Stupid, And Rare, Sites That Still Do Not Care For Customers That Use CHROME.

Most of the system crashes I've had occurred due to Windows updates. One of them fried my Dell 5100C computer, in Dec 2009. Same (but less serious) happened during the Win98 days. When the updates stopped, so did the crashes. Same now, for the XP machines I don't have connected to the internet except once a month to check on updates. So my strategy is a mix of yours: I only use one machine for internetting, primarily. The others are offline, except when the main machine is busy or I have to download to another machine. At which point, I update only the patches I understand.

Problem is, Java and Adobe glitch the machines also, if their updates aren't used. Unlike you I'm no fan of the ever-obtuse Chrome, but it handles cookies well for heavy-cookie sites like Amazon, XFINITY, Youtube. (Maybe it runs better in Europe?) Firefox won't run properly if I don't update those things, which always ends up meaning Windows Updates come first.

It's becoming a full-time job just to surf the internet, now. All these patches. Makes a Chromebook, suddenly viable. Honestly, the only machines I have trouble with, and the only time I have trouble with them, is when I go online.

[A41202813]

@brainout

Since MAY My M$ Rant Has Not Changed.

A - Today, I Only Use IE8 For YOUTUBE Videos That Do Not Display Well In CHROME With Full Screen - It Happens When CHROME Versions Are Rushed Way Too Quickly, Like The Present 'Stable' Version 23,

B - My Use Of FF Is Now Almost Reduced To 0% But I Keep It As My Second Browser - I Upgraded Version 3628 To 1602, Because, After The Recent PCW Redesign, 3628 Was Denied Of The Log In Procedure - I Still Have Issues With Old Extensions, But I Manage Well Enough,

C - I Use CHROME Almost All The Time, Because I Have Found Extensions That Allow Me To Manage The Few Problems The Browser Gives Me.

[brainout]

A41202813, on 17 November 2012 - 01:17 PM, said:

@brainout

Since MAY My M$ Rant Has Not Changed.

A - Today, I Only Use IE8 For YOUTUBE Videos That Do Not Display Well In CHROME With Full Screen - It Happens When CHROME Versions Are Rushed Way Too Quickly, Like The Present 'Stable' Version 23,

B - My Use Of FF Is Now Almost Reduced To 0% But I Keep It As My Second Browser - I Upgraded Version 3628 To 1602, Because, After The Recent PCW Redesign, 3628 Was Denied Of The Log In Procedure - I Still Have Issues With Old Extensions, But I Manage Well Enough,

C - I Use CHROME Almost All The Time, Because I Have Found Extensions That Allow Me To Manage The Few Problems The Browser Gives Me.

Yes, FF version 3.6 was my favorite, too. It got worse, after that.

[mjd420nova]

It doesn't matter what software or platform I use, I do not want anything AUTOMATICALLY downloading, or installing any updates or upgrades. I want to choose when to download and when to install. It can be very frustrating when things stop or pause in the middle of things, only to have the pop up windows there are updates ready to install as the hesitation you saw was the downloading stealing resources and machine cycles.

[bobrow]

So I've got a rescued Vista laptop: There are 124 updates to download and install.

Let's see: Is #43 and 96 a good idea? How about #114 and 27?

Gimme a break!