Windows Update: a solution or a problem?

[RoboMan]

I firmly state and believe Windows Update should be turned on literally on every system. Updates should be on on every informatic device, wether it's Windows, Linux, Mac or whatever. They suppose a great addition of security to the daily life.

Nevertheless, there are people, even informatic-related people, who claim and yell "Windows Update breaks everything and should be off".

As a matter of fact, i reciently asked a question on a Facebook Group related to informatic technicians, who live off repairing computers and phones. My question lied like this: "Do you install all Windows updates when you format a computer or you leave it to the user to install them so you don't lose time?".

1 guy told me he installed them himself so they didn't break anything while the user was in charge.
Literally 19 told me they disabled Windows Update to avoid trouble, or to not bother the user.

This could mean a huge issue to security to lots of people. This "technicians" also claimed they had their own Windows Update disabled to avoid Windows to stop booting or BSOD.

What do you think of the above? Do you keep Windows Update services always enabled on your PC and whoever's you repair/help? Do you believe it's more convenient to turn it off to avoid issues? Maybe download specific updates manually from internet?

Discuss.

 

[Brahman]

windows update is now running fine, but i am not a fan of automatic feature updates. last time my system got automatically updated to 1709 version..oh man did i suffer. all of my files and folders in every drive got locked, even the default admin account ain't had permissions to edit or rename a folder. I was forced to download 1709 iso and had to install it from (hidden default) admin account to correct the mistakes. wasted a lot of time in searching for corrective measures and a lot of data in downloading both update and iso.

 

[Deletedmessiah]

I'd say Windows Update is a problematic solution
I disabled automatic updates, I prefer to do it manually.

 

[roger_m]

After doing a clean install of Windows for a customer, I always install all Windows Updates. It's rare for me to do a clean install, as I prefer to fix any issues. However, in either case I always install all available updates.

 

[Venustus]

It's a necessary "evil"!!
I automatically update but have ran into issues with stuttering in some games I play.
The latest Nvidia drivers are not playing well with FCU

 

[jerzy601]

I always download updates automatically but only those that are important for system security.
Optional not all, but first I check them in terms of usefulness.
I have the option.

 

[CMLew]

Any Window Update that is not optional (like FCU), I'll just let it automated.

 

[509322]

The user should always have a choice (to delay any updates).

Microsoft is using free W10 home user systems as forced feature & security update guinea pigs, but providing paid Pro and Enterprise version user systems with delayed feature & security update options.

That is my observation.

You cannot argue that users do not know enough to make an informed choice regarding updates and Microsoft is making the right choice on behalf of the consumer. Consumers must not have their right to make their own choices taken away from them. It is always the end user's responsibility to educate themselves to make an educated, informed decision and choice. Read Microsoft's EULA. Read any software EULA. The person using the software does so at their own risk no matter what.

 

[frogboy]

It is as @venustus put it so well.

 

[Evjl's Rain]

it always creates a least 1 problem for me with noticeable performance drop and instability due to several tweaks I made, it also reverts some of my tweaks. I prefer installing big updates with clean installation instead of small to medium-size updates

 

[Sunshine-boy]

I use Windows Update MiniTool .

 

[LASER_oneXM]

I'm updating all my machines manually. Before installing i'm always trying to find informations on the internet about issues with updates.

 

[509322]

The average Joe on the street does not read MalwareTips and does not share the opinions of security soft geeks.

The average Joe thinks they are a "normal" person (whatever that means) and that Microsoft does things to their system that they did not ask for, they do not want, that breaks their stuff, that annoys them, and wants Microsoft to stop doing.

A lot of enterprises, admins and technicians (and 3rd party developers) think and feel this way too.

But Microsoft does not listen to anybody. Microsoft does what it wants.

 

[Deletedmessiah]

I use Windows Update MiniTool .

I use it too, because I got tired of Windows Update taking hours to check for updates.

 

[TairikuOkami]

"Windows Update breaks everything and should be off"

There were times, when Windows Updates broken something like once or twice a year and it made the news. These days, it is not really news, because they break something every time, the only question is, what this time? And I am not even talking about forced driver updates, MS really messed up with those.

On the other hand, it is understandable, why MS has forced updates upon us.



Overview of Windows as a service (Windows 10)

I use it too, because I got tired of Windows Update taking hours to check for updates.

Well since 1709 it takes seconds, literally like 5 seconds whenever via Windows Update or via WUMT.

 

[roger_m]

I use it too, because I got tired of Windows Update taking hours to check for updates.

If you're using Windows 7, Microsoft fixed the issue with Windows Update taking hours to search for updates earlier in the year. Windows Update seems to never take more than about 10 minutes to check for updates on Windows 7. However, the issue has not been fixed for Vista, and it still can take many hours to check for updates.

 

[mlnevese]

I believe Windows Update is a necessary evil... I've known more than one person who just never updated their computers before Windows 10 came out... Of course I'd like it to be configurable about what I want to be automatically updated... no automatic driver update for instance.

 

[Marko :)]

I have Windows Updates enabled and set to manual. Few times happened to me that updates were installed automatically and caused a lot of problems. However, I do think that updates are important to keep your computer safe and running fast.

 

[plat1098]

Re: post 14: " ...that Microsoft does things to their system that they did not ask for, they do not want, that breaks their stuff, that annoys them..."

That's Microsoft in a nutshell: Annoying.

Maybe this isn't so prevalent now but a while ago, I went into a Best Buy for a part, and the majority of their demo machines were stuck on the "please wait..." screen updating. So the perspective is totally understandable if you can see it that way.

 

[509322]

Re: post 14: " ...that Microsoft does things to their system that they did not ask for, they do not want, that breaks their stuff, that annoys them..."

That's Microsoft in a nutshell: Annoying.

Maybe this isn't so prevalent now but a while ago, I went into a Best Buy for a part, and the majority of their demo machines were stuck on the "please wait..." screen updating. So the perspective is totally understandable if you can see it that way.

I don't know how people cannot see it that way as individuals have virtually no influence over what Microsoft is going to implement in Windows and how they are going to implement it. It typically takes government lawsuits to get Microsoft to make Microsoft change. Even then those changes are quite minimal and have little to no impact on how Microsoft implements things in Windows. At least it does not bring about the changes that users want in Windows.

On the whole, Windows Updates probably solve more problems than they cause. Still, some perceive that Windows Updates cause more problems than they solve. Until Microsoft fixes their update problems, some people will go out of their way to stop Windows Updates. People do not want to hear that the ecosystem is too vast. People do not care about the vast ecosystem.

I have seen Windows 10 kill a system completely - to the point where it was unrecoverable - turned the laptop into rubbish. I have seen a Windows 10 update kill a Windows 10 image. I have seen Windows 10 update go bezerk and require a clean install on multiple occasions. I have seen Windows 10 updates go smoothly many times. All on different systems. Windows 10 updates are not reliable in my experience.

My experience is echoed by many other Windows 10 users. User land is not happy with Windows 10 updates - and justifiably so. They are not reliable. Having to perform a clean install with every single major version upgrade just isn't acceptable to user land and the number of breakages and bugs with the features is unacceptable. That's what user land says. If anyone has a problem with it take it up with user land.

This debate will never end.

I delay Windows Updates because I know the vast majority of the time they are botched. So do most enterprises and governments that are serious about system reliability.