Windows 10 Automatic Updates are Baffling and Infuriating

FractalAudio

FractalAudio

Administrator
Fractal Audio Systems
Moderator
Several days ago my primary development computer decided to spontaneously update itself and reboot while I was away from my desk. No warning. No "Updates are ready to install. Please choose a time to install them". Didn't lose any work fortunately as I had saved everything but as I routinely have 20-30 windows open I had to reopen all my programs and it was valuable time lost.

Yesterday we took a trip up north and I'm using my secondary development computer at "Fractal HQ Winnipesaukee". First time I've ever seen it but it actually tells me updates are ready and asks when to install them. I select tonight. Get up this morning and nothing has changed. No updates installed.

Apple gets this right. Why is MS seemingly completely incapable of managing what appears to be a relatively simple script?
 
Agreed it's a nightmare, and it cascades - you get one set of updates installed which seems to often then require another set. Been like that forever - one of the main reasons I switched to Mac which has its own issues but this is not one.
 
And I have a media pc that I would love for it to auto update and I can’t get it to do it. I log in every few months and it’s sitting there with a prompt.... do you want to restart?
 
Yep. Came to my desk this morning to find my workstation had rebooted. No warnings; apps closed without permission; no reasons or release notes provided. Luckily, my usual workspace of dozens of apps was mostly closed down for other reasons, but every time they pull this crap, I feel seriously violated!
 
It is pretty ridiculous that MS after all these years continually screws up the most basic features. That being said, I think windows 10 professional gives you a lot more control over choosing when updates are applied - if using home edition this is a bit harder. I have heard of W10 home users that need to control their updates get around this by creating a couple batch scripts to click on their desktop - 1 containing commands to completely disable the windows update service, and another to re-enable them so they can update when they choose. Absurd to have to jump through all those hoops.
 
Yup, my laptop decided it was a good time to reboot right in the middle of my D&D game a couple weeks ago making everyone wait 15 minutes for my dumb ass. I've never been more tempted to ignore the "Don't turn off your computer" warning while Windows updated.
 
I wrote a batch file startup script that pops up a window that asks if I'd like to disable updates because there's nothing worse than wanting to quickly record some music ideas but can't because updates are downloading or installing in the background and using tons of processing power. I always re-enable updates when I'm done using my PC and then install any pending updates.

To Disable Windows update, run these commands from an elevated command prompt:
Code: 
SC CONFIG wuauserv START= disabled
NET STOP wuauserv /Y

To Enable Windows update, run these commands from an elevated command prompt:
Code: 
SC CONFIG wuauserv START= delayed-auto
NET START wuauserv /Y
 
We're forced to use MS Outlook for our work email client. It still baffles me that after 23-24 years it STILL runs at half the speed of f***ing pond water regardless of the device it's used on. I absolutely loathe that program.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jon
MK-9 said:
We're forced to use MS Outlook for our work email client. It still baffles me that after 23-24 years it STILL runs at half the speed of f***ing pond water regardless of the device it's used on. I absolutely loathe that program.
Click to expand...
We're force to use it also on our mobile phones. It's resolutely the biggest piece of s**** I ever came across.
 
In a business environment, the best way to account for random and unannounced patching like this is to put your computers on a domain, then use an update management solution like WSUS or SCCM to strictly control what updates are approved for download, and when they will be applied. You can get pretty in depth with it and schedule updates to only happen exactly when you need them to.
 
Yeah, auto updates suck, and it boggles my mind why MS persists with this much hated feature. Nothing more infuriating to have your PC or laptop starting to update, and often taking forever to do so.

Still beats the crap from the Big Tech Oligarchy that wants to control what you watch and do called Apple.
 
MK-9 said:
We're forced to use MS Outlook for our work email client. It still baffles me that after 23-24 years it STILL runs at half the speed of f***ing pond water regardless of the device it's used on. I absolutely loathe that program.
Click to expand...

lauke-lux said:
We're force to use it also on our mobile phones. It's resolutely the biggest piece of s**** I ever came across.
Click to expand...
I've been using various versions of Outlook for at least 25 years for work. While there are occasional issues or things I've disliked about certain versions, I generally have no real problems.

I'm using it quite often every day and dealing with hundreds of emails a day.

I particularly like the newer (auto indexed) search capabilities, especially given than I have about 20 years worth of archived emails that I often need to search thru to refer to for technical issues I support.

In our environment we use it with Exchange (and now Outlook 365 for a couple years) so I don't know if your use may be affecting your experiences... Typically, the only times I have issues are when the backend (Exchange or network) is having problems, and you can't blame the client in that case.

This is in a very large enterprise (within top 15 of Fortune 500 list) with 10s of thousands of employees all using it.

Not discounting your opinions, just providing a different one.
 
Muad'zin said:
Yeah, auto updates suck, and it boggles my mind why MS persists with this much hated feature. Nothing more infuriating to have your PC or laptop starting to update, and often taking forever to do so.

Still beats the crap from the Big Tech Oligarchy that wants to control what you watch and do called Apple.
Click to expand...
If they didn't then people would complain more about bugs and security vulnerabilities... Most people would never update. ;)
 
The thing that gets me with the auto updates is the update with no restart that changes system permissions that appears to be happening sometimes. I’ve helped multiple groups with live sound and live stream issues that have been due to an update changing the permissions. I helped one group where mid stream Windows decided to deny OBS access to the microphone on the PC and they lost audio. And then another where it changed the default audio output device.
 
unix-guy said:
I've been using various versions of Outlook for at least 25 years for work. While there are occasional issues or things I've disliked about certain versions, I generally have no real problems.

I'm using it quite often every day and dealing with hundreds of emails a day.

I particularly like the newer (auto indexed) search capabilities, especially given than I have about 20 years worth of archived emails that I often need to search thru to refer to for technical issues I support.

In our environment we use it with Exchange (and now Outlook 365 for a couple years) so I don't know if your use may be affecting your experiences... Typically, the only times I have issues are when the backend (Exchange or network) is having problems, and you can't blame the client in that case.

This is in a very large enterprise (within top 15 of Fortune 500 list) with 10s of thousands of employees all using it.

Not discounting your opinions, just providing a different one.
Click to expand...
Yes no sweat, it's the mobile phone version that I can't get around with.
Searching in Outlook on PC for some reason will limit me to one or two years; which can be problematic when digging mails in projects of 3y+ ago. Office 365 also; and BTW working for the energy branch of Europe's largest Civil Works contractor; but that's nothing to do with Outlook ;-). Maybe I don't use it correctly on PC. On phone I definitely can't get away with it.
 
lauke-lux said:
Yes no sweat, it's the mobile phone version that I can't get around with.
Searching in Outlook on PC for some reason will limit me to one or two years; which can be problematic when digging mails in projects of 3y+ ago. Office 365 also; and BTW working for the energy branch of Europe's largest Civil Works contractor; but that's nothing to do with Outlook ;-). Maybe I don't use it correctly on PC. On phone I definitely can't get away with it.
Click to expand...
There's a setting in the search indexer that defaults to 1 year, I think. I changed that to be "all"... Problem solved ;)

You can do a Google search to find the exact steps.
 
You have to set up activity time and Windows will not install updates/reboot at those hours. I had unexpected reboot just at the beginning of windows auto updates, then WSUS sorted out the issue (I have domain network).

On my private Windows home and pto I never had unexpected restart - Windows always notifies that update is ready and asks ig Imwant to reboot.
 
Wallygatorr1976 said:
You have to set up activity time and Windows will not install updates/reboot at those hours. I had unexpected reboot just at the beginning of windows auto updates, then WSUS sorted out the issue (I have domain network).

On my private Windows home and pto I never had unexpected restart - Windows always notifies that update is ready and asks ig Imwant to reboot.
Click to expand...
I did that on day one.

Windows frequently does not respect those settings.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom