PDA

View Full Version : I Always Disable Automatic System Updates


xxmikexx
10-04-2008, 02:21 PM
I always disable automatic system updates. Some people have reported problems with XP SP3 and this is a good example of why I do it.

You see, SP3 includes four updates that are not found in the integral of SP1+SP2. I don't know how important they are but perhaps one of them has been causing the problem(s), if any.
Michael E.
10-04-2008, 02:27 PM
Auto update is off on my FS computers. I have it turned on on the utility system. I haven't noticed anything strange with SP3 on the utility (this) system.
jwenting
10-04-2008, 02:57 PM
No problems whatsoever with SP3 on my XP machine or the several VMWare images running XP that I'm using.

The only reason I don't turn on autoupdate (only auto-notification) is because I want to control the precise time of the updates so the thing doesn't start installing and rebooting while I'm working on something time or resource intensive.
xxmikexx
10-04-2008, 03:18 PM
Right -- I don't allow anything automatic ...

Not system updates, not virus scans, not spyware scans -- nothing. I don't allow application boot-time daemons either. (Other than the control center for my Nvidia gpu.)

One of the things I'll say regarding installing SP3 is that it would be a good idea to blow away XP's knowledge of which updates have been installed. It will then reinstall ALL of the updates, and in the correct order. I don't recall exactly which folder this stuff is in but our friend Google should be able to answer that question.

I assume that similar considerations apply to SP1 for Vista but I don't actually know this.
jwenting
10-04-2008, 03:41 PM
No need to be so distrustful.
And that's me saying it, a self-admitted paranoid.
xxmikexx
10-04-2008, 04:03 PM
I can only quote Jean Shepard, the father of talk radio ...

In God we trust, all others pay cash. :D
jwenting
10-04-2008, 05:36 PM
I trust Einstein in this:
Only 2 things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity. And I have my doubts about the universe.
xxmikexx
10-04-2008, 05:43 PM
A few years before his death he also said "I've reached an age where if somebody tells me to put on my shoes, I don't have to."
jwenting
10-04-2008, 05:52 PM
and he was right :D