Auto Updates

[Gregory]

Hello friends. Is it safe to enable automatic updates to my new Vista Home
Premium ? Is there a better way to keep things in order ? Any inputs to
avert pitfalls would be appreciated. Yours gratefully,

 

[JerryM]

Yes, this is the best way to keep your system up to date.
Please note that if your system operates 24-7 it uses 3:00 AM.
If you turn your system off every night, then this will not work.
Reset your time to day time hours.
I use 10:00 AM, but my wife uses 7:00 PM just as an example.

Jerry

 

[Hank Arnold (MVP)]

Hello friends. Is it safe to enable automatic updates to my new Vista Home
Premium ? Is there a better way to keep things in order ? Any inputs to
avert pitfalls would be appreciated. Yours gratefully,

Absolutely. My preference it to set it to download & notify. I review
the updates and decide if I want to install any or all of them.

--

Regards,
Hank Arnold
Microsoft MVP
Windows Server - Directory Services

 

[Gordon]

Hello friends. Is it safe to enable automatic updates to my new Vista
Home
Premium ? Is there a better way to keep things in order ? Any inputs to
avert pitfalls would be appreciated. Yours gratefully,

You need to be wary of non-MS hardware driver updates offered by WU - there
are problems with these on occasions. It is much better to get these direct
from the Vendor's website.
Therefore set WU to notify only - then you won't install hardware drivers
that may mess up your hardware!

 

[Gordon]

Yes, this is the best way to keep your system up to date.

I beg to differ. There have been many documented problems with non-MS
hardware driver updates offered through WU. It is far better to get non-MS
hardware driver updates from the Vendor's website, NOT via WU. Therefore the
BEST way is to set WU to notify, not to just blindly download and install
everything and anything.

 

[JerryM]

In case you haven't noticed, only critical updates are installed, not every
problem solving glob that comes along.

Jerry

 

[Hank Arnold (MVP)]

You need to be wary of non-MS hardware driver updates offered by WU -
there are problems with these on occasions. It is much better to get
these direct from the Vendor's website.
Therefore set WU to notify only - then you won't install hardware
drivers that may mess up your hardware!

I'm glad you added that caveat. It's important. Never, ever, download
hardware drivers from MS. Always get them from the manufacturer.

Also, update drivers only when there is a reason. This is the best
example of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!".......

--

Regards,
Hank Arnold
Microsoft MVP
Windows Server - Directory Services

 

[Guest]

Microsoft Update is still the best way to keep your Microsoft software up to
date, but you can decide whether to download the hardware drivers which
Microsoft Update offers. But drivers signed by Microsoft is strongly
recommended, they may have better stability.

 

[Guest]

I agree, this is quite a clear instruction.

I'm glad you added that caveat. It's important. Never, ever, download
hardware drivers from MS. Always get them from the manufacturer.

Also, update drivers only when there is a reason. This is the best example
of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!".......

--

Regards,
Hank Arnold
Microsoft MVP
Windows Server - Directory Services

 

[Gordon]

In case you haven't noticed, only critical updates are installed, not
every problem solving glob that comes along.

Umm no - if WU is set to download AND install updates (in Vista certainly)
it downloads and installs ALL available updates.

 

[JerryM]

Negative, only critical updates.
If you go to the update site you will see several types of available
updates, but only critical updates are automatically installed.

 

[Tom Allen]

Negative, only critical updates.
If you go to the update site you will see several types of available
updates, but only critical updates are automatically installed.

I seem to have a quite different Windows Update which doesn't go to any
site but operates in a local process and for which I could set
'recommended' downloads off in the setup.

My method is actually to set WU to fully automatic for all updates and
to use the Microsoft Update service, but to run at 1100 on Mondays which
would give several days to consider the 'Update Tuesday' updates if
required and to select out hardware related items. I might be caught
out by anything that turned up just before that time but it hasn't
happened yet. In fact I normally install on the Wednesday which for a
day worker in the UK is fairly normal I guess. I will however be
starting WU manually later today to catch the 'out of band' critical
which is being released.

Tom

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Gregory, I personally set Windows Update to 'notify' me of updates. This
allows me to select what to install and what not to install. In all the many
years I've used Windows never have I simply allowed Windows to automatically
install updates.


--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Non MS drivers are classed as 'optional' therefore they are not
automatically installed; you have the 'option' to install them if you wish.

I do agree, however, that it is far better to get updated drivers from the
hardware manufacturer, not Windows Updates. As an example I recently updated
my NVidia video card driver direct from NVidia. The available update on the
NVidia site was version 7.15. A few hours after installing the new driver
update Windows Update advised me that a new video driver was available for
install (optional, of course). The driver offered by Microsoft was 3 months
out of date!

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[Hank Arnold (MVP)]

I seem to have a quite different Windows Update which doesn't go to any
site but operates in a local process and for which I could set
'recommended' downloads off in the setup.

My method is actually to set WU to fully automatic for all updates and
to use the Microsoft Update service, but to run at 1100 on Mondays which
would give several days to consider the 'Update Tuesday' updates if
required and to select out hardware related items. I might be caught
out by anything that turned up just before that time but it hasn't
happened yet. In fact I normally install on the Wednesday which for a
day worker in the UK is fairly normal I guess. I will however be
starting WU manually later today to catch the 'out of band' critical
which is being released.

Tom

Sounds like you are using something like WSUS ...

--

Regards,
Hank Arnold
Microsoft MVP
Windows Server - Directory Services