Windows 10 Pros and cons of Windows updates

KenEverett · Jun 21, 2018

I have adopted a fairly old IT philosophy of 'If its not broken, don't fix it' when it comes to Windows 10.

After all, the only 'valuable' stuff on your computer are documents and emails which you spent time on - if these are 'lost' there is a cost to recover this data.

So - for the past number of years I have:

a) Done regular, automated backups (the backup drive is 'hidden' from Windows when not being used to backup data')

b) Completely disabled Windows updates
- set the services start value to '4'
- set all permissions on the 4 relevant services to 'deny'
- uninstalled Windows Update Assistant
- set all permissions on the C:\Windows10Upgrade folder to 'deny'
- disabled all triggers for Windows Update\Orchestrator in Task Scheduler

c) Employed a trusted antivirus + antimalware solution

Once a year I format\reload the latest version of Windows.

This not only speeds up the computer but the 2 hours this takes is nothing compared to the many hours lost to updates\broken updates\update rollbacks\post update fixes that are now the norm with Windows10.

nmsuk · Jun 21, 2018

This is all well and good, but not recommended and fairly dangerous. Anyone here does that to their machine and they'd lose internet access.

Neemobeer · Jun 21, 2018

By your philosophy and by the fact that a vulnerability is essentially a bug then it is broken.

KenEverett · Jun 21, 2018

nmsuk said:
This is all well and good, but not recommended and fairly dangerous. Anyone here does that to their machine and they'd lose internet access.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the perceived dangers of this practice.
The cumulative cost of system downtime resulting from Microsoft's foisted updates would probably make quite a dent in the USA's 20 trillion debt bill.

You must be a 'system administrator'.....
Firstly, I wouldn't need your internet access
Secondly, revoking my internet access is just another way of not doing Windows 10 updates....

nmsuk said:
This is all well and good, but not recommended and fairly dangerous. Anyone here does that to their machine and they'd lose internet access.

KenEverett · Jun 21, 2018

Neemobeer said:
By your philosophy and by the fact that a vulnerability is essentially a bug then it is broken.

By your philosophy, humanity is stuck with the pain and cost of Windows updates until the next ELE

nmsuk · Jun 21, 2018

KenEverett said:
I would love to hear your thoughts on the perceived dangers of this practice.
The cumulative cost of system downtime resulting from Microsoft's foisted updates would probably make quite a dent in the USA's 20 trillion debt bill.

You must be a 'system administrator'.....
Firstly, I wouldn't need your internet access
Secondly, revoking my internet access is just another way of not doing Windows 10 updates....

Well no you wouldn't but you're not on my network.

KenEverett · Jun 26, 2018

The “Getting Windows ready, Don’t turn off your computer” message appears while Windows is installing updates. Windows will normally finish the installation process if you give it time—but, if it’s been hours, you may just need to restart your PC.

Unfortunately, it’s normal to wait a while for Windows to update, and this wastes an immense amount of time. Microsoft says there are about 700 million Windows 10 devices and that the April 2018 Update will take 10 to 30 minutes to install. So, assuming an average of 20 minutes for 700 million computers, that’s over 26,000 years of humanity’s collective time wasted waiting for Windows 10 to install a single update.

How to Fix a PC Stuck on “Don’t Turn Off” During Windows Updates

The prosecution rests.......

danielcooper511 · Jun 26, 2018

KenEverett said:
uninstalled Windows Update Assistant

I tried this several times but whenever system connected to the internet Windows Update Assistant download itself by default and start updating the system.

KenEverett · Jun 26, 2018

danielcooper511 said:
I tried this several times but whenever system connected to the internet Windows Update Assistant download itself by default and start updating the system.

The key to stopping this happening is:
- Uninstall Windows Update Assistant via Control Panel\Programs
- Explore the C: drive of your PC
- Right click on the folder called Windows10Upgrade
- Click on Properties
- Click on the Security Tab
- Change the access permissions of ALL users to deny

After doing this, you may see a message (when you are online) Failed To Write File
This tells you that Microsoft has just attempted another surreptitious, unauthorized update to your computer.

danielcooper511 · Jun 26, 2018

KenEverett said:
Uninstall Windows Update Assistant via Control Panel\Programs

I uninstalled it several times several times via control panel. I think you never did this just typing anything without any knowledge of it you just try yourself then give suggestion to us.

KenEverett · Jun 26, 2018

danielcooper511 said:
I uninstalled it several times several times via control panel. I think you never did this just typing anything without any knowledge of it you just try yourself then give suggestion to us.

Please read my reply properly. The answer is concise, accurate and it works.

AdrianG001 · Aug 2, 2019

KenEverett said:
I have adopted a fairly old IT philosophy of 'If its not broken, don't fix it' when it comes to Windows 10.

After all, the only 'valuable' stuff on your computer are documents and emails which you spent time on - if these are 'lost' there is a cost to recover this data.

So - for the past number of years I have:

a) Done regular, automated backups (the backup drive is 'hidden' from Windows when not being used to backup data')

b) Completely disabled Windows updates
- set the services start value to '4'
- set all permissions on the 4 relevant services to 'deny'
- uninstalled Windows Update Assistant
- set all permissions on the C:\Windows10Upgrade folder to 'deny'
- disabled all triggers for Windows Update\Orchestrator in Task Scheduler

c) Employed a trusted antivirus + antimalware solution

Once a year I format\reload the latest version of Windows.

This not only speeds up the computer but the 2 hours this takes is nothing compared to the many hours lost to updates\broken updates\update rollbacks\post update fixes that are now the norm with Windows 10.

Advantages:
1. You get all the new features as soon as they are released. No waiting.
2. Security patches are installed automatically keeping your system secure.
3. Eliminates the hassles of downloading and installing updates manually.

Disadvantages:
1. A broken driver for a specific hardware or software might get installed, this may stop your computer or hardware from working.
2. You might get into a situation where you don't know when the update is downloading or installing and this might interfere with the work you are doing on your PC.

Regards,
Adrian

KenEverett · Aug 2, 2019

AdrianG001 said:
Advantages:
1. You get all the new features as soon as they are released. No waiting.
2. Security patches are installed automatically keeping your system secure.
3. Eliminates the hassles of downloading and installing updates manually.

Disadvantages:
1. A broken driver for a specific hardware or software might get installed, this may stop your computer or hardware from working.
2. You might get into a situation where you don't know when the update is downloading or installing and this might interfere with the work you are doing on your PC.

Regards,
Adrian

You only list 2 out of a possible 27,896 'cons'?

Remember : the fresh installation is done using the latest version\build of Windows 10. So - I might get the patches later than some people, but I never lose even 1 minute to any of the innumerable failed updates.

I have been in IT for almost 40 years now and have concluded that the most important IT practice is doing proper backups.

I have chosen to stop being a slave to the Microsoft philosophy

Nirose · Aug 2, 2019

Updates are like an itch that you expect to make something better but it doesn't always work that way. I don't complain as I put it on metered connection and let it update when i'm not working.

But honestly, Windows 10 fails to update to a major update when you disable most of it's telemetry. ㄟ(ツ)ㄏ

you at least need severe security updates. going without security patches seems like the wild west. there are a lot of vulnerabilities in the dark web.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

AdrianG001 · Aug 5, 2019

Yes you are right. Most of the users have been affected after updating to latest 1903 update lots of bug but Microsoft is working on it.

Regards,
Adrian

ussnorway · Aug 6, 2019

running updates and allowing automatic updates are two different senarios
imc I disable updates once I have a build (different one on my laptop to my desktop) I'm happy with but most people don't know how to take control of their own networks and for these people auto-updates (with all its bugs) [issues] is the best option

p.s, security updates are not the same thing as build updates

Windows 10 Pros and cons of Windows updates

KenEverett

Active Member

nmsuk

Essential Member

Neemobeer

Cloud Security Engineer

KenEverett

Active Member

KenEverett

Active Member

nmsuk

Essential Member

KenEverett

Active Member

danielcooper511

New Member

KenEverett

Active Member

danielcooper511

New Member

KenEverett

Active Member

AdrianG001

Senior Member

KenEverett

Active Member

Nirose

New Member

AdrianG001

Senior Member

ussnorway

Windows Forum Team

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