Updates on a PC ?

EycplUK

Hi , is there any advantage to allowing "automatic updates" to take place on your pc ?
Regards

Chris_Doran

I avoid them for any product which (a) provides no way to specify a time window during which they can happen, slowing down the machine while I'm working and/or using up my bandwidth quota by doing it outside the free period, or (b) automatically reboots, losing unsaved work.

Better to select the option to be notified when they're available at do it at your convenience, not theirs.

GunJack

^^^^ +1 for that

also, I've had to rebuild from scratch several vista systems where users have manually powered down thinking the pc was behaving badly, when all it was was ms updates being installed automatically...doing that on a vista system quite often leads to so much system file corruption you end up with an unbootable pc, hence having to rebuild from scratch

pendragon_arther

GunJack wrote: »

^^^^ +1 for that

also, I've had to rebuild from scratch several vista systems where users have manually powered down thinking the pc was behaving badly, when all it was was ms updates being installed automatically...doing that on a vista system quite often leads to so much system file corruption you end up with an unbootable pc, hence having to rebuild from scratch

Strange. There's always a warning message saying updates are being installed and to not close whenshutting down a Vista machine and when booting up.

GunJack

pendragon_arther wrote: »

Strange. There's always a warning message saying updates are being installed and to not close whenshutting down a Vista machine and when booting up.

yes there are, but less techie people don't always look/pay attention/whatever, and so it does happen........

m5rcc

pendragon_arther wrote: »

Strange. There's always a warning message saying updates are being installed and to not close whenshutting down a Vista machine and when booting up.

That's because you allow that to happen. Change it to "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them", otherwise you'll end up with it download useless items like IE9.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. They only updates I do are Service Packs.

Mr_Toad

GunJack wrote: »

yes there are, but less techie people don't always look/pay attention/whatever, and so it does happen........

I know some techies that don't look/pay attention too

waddler_8

EycplUK wrote: »

is there any advantage to allowing "automatic updates" to take place on your pc ?

Yes, it helps keep you secure - land on a compromised webpage with an outdated OS and you could end up infected.

As others have said though, set it to notify you so you can choose a convenient time to install - the sooner the better.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/security/pc-security/updates-faq.aspx

JasX

EycplUK wrote: »

Hi , is there any advantage to allowing "automatic updates" to take place on your pc ?
Regards

yes, basically they are an essential part of keeping your PC secure, and free of viruses, keyloggers etc etc.

Viruses are writted with frightening speed these days (<24hrs at times) and once a patch is available the vulnerability is 'published' information and anyone slow to patch is at a much higher risk of being compromised.

if your PC isn;t used for anything 'important', you NEVER use it for banking or shopping and/or any important work is backed up on a secure machine there may be a (weak) argument for turning automatic patching off.

Otherwise its kinda mandatory, hence the reason your PCs security center will flah big warnings at you to turn it on if its ever switched off.

waddler_8

JasX wrote: »

if your PC isn;t used for anything 'important', you NEVER use it for banking or shopping and/or any important work is backed up on a secure machine there may be a (weak) argument for turning automatic patching off.

There is no argument in not getting the patches & risking infection based on what you use the computer for. It's as much about what the computer could be used for & how it might affect others, should it be compromised. Once you're botted it could be used for almost anything.