Notify me but don't download/install doesn't work

[Fr@nk]

Hi. Running XPSP2, and have Automatic Updates set to Notify me, but don't
automatically download OR install them. I do get a notification in the
system tray area. I can click on it and get the window showing available
updates. But if I then click the Download button, the window goes away,
and.....nothing else happens. It doesn't download the update(s), and I've
waited 5 or 10 minutes. But if I then go to Windows Update and manually have
it check for updates, I can get the download and install going that way.

Is this the way it's supposed to work? It seems like if I click the
"Download" button when I'm notified of updates, Windows should start
downloading them! Is there some sort of queueing going on? Might it take a
long time til the actual download starts? Thanks in advance.


Fr@nk

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

What you describe has happened to me as well. It's to be expected.

Should it allow download if you ask for it? Ideally yes, but again, with setting at Notify only, don't expect it to fetch.

 

[Fr@nk]

What you describe has happened to me as well. It's to be expected.

Should it allow download if you ask for it? Ideally yes, but again, with
setting at Notify only, don't expect it to fetch.

Maurice-


Wow, thanks for the _quick_ reply! But I disagree: and if you read my post
carefully, you'll see it's not supposed to work like this. There's a
DOWNLOAD button. If you click it, the download should start. I agree if I
just see the notification icon, it's not going to automatically download the
updates. But if you take the EXTRA step to view the available updates, and
then click the DOWNLOAD button, the download should start. Am I missing
anything?


Fr@nk

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

I agree with your statements. It should, but it does not behave that way.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Part of the reason is to stagger the downloads so the available bandwidth is
not exceeded.
Similar to if the "Automatic" option is selected.
The computer will not get the updates immediately, but may get them days
later as bandwidth allows.

If you want the updates now, you can go to Windows/Microsoft Update and get
them now.

 

[Guest]

Thank you Fr@nk and Jupiter... I'm very interested to read this.

I've never felt happy about the auto function, preferring in most cases (ie
not just Windows) to know the what/when of what's happening with my computer.
Eccentric? Heck NO! Just paranoid. LOL

Now, what you're saying suggests to me that as often as not, I stand a good
chance of completing an update 'as soon as' or even sooner if I do it
manually. I like that!

Be kind to your mother today...

 

[Guest]

I, too, have had this happen to me. Sometimes, after you click the Download
button, it will take a minute or two to get going. What it really depends on
is what you are doing after you click on the Download button. If you just
sit there or go get a cup of coffee, it will start downloading. If you jump
right into a full-screen program it will wait until you're finished.

What usually happens (to me) is that the downloads occur right away, but
then they get "munched on" by your computer for a while and you might not get
notified that they are Ready for Install for quite some time. I have found
that if you let them download and then go out to the Update site all of a
sudden the updates will be "found" on your computer and the pop-up
notification will appear. This gives you the choice of re-downloading and
installing or just cancelling the web page and go ahead with the install as
notified.

Either way I agree that this is NOT the way it should work.

GP

 

[Guest]

It makes me feel so much more "normal" to learn that others have the same
annoying things happen. There have been times when I've had doubts... <g>

One bit of information I can add here is that when the updates are
downloaded, they're saved to your Temp folder (NOT temporary internet files).
If the download is interrupted, like one of my large ones was once - some
19MB of 20MB downloaded, and I lost my connection (grrrr dial-up) - when I
went back to the update site to start all over again (a couple of days
later), I found it RESUMES from the point where it was interrupted, and I
didn't have to wait through the whole 20MB again.

That's a really nice feature, eh? And no extra charge! <g>.

For me though, manual updates is still the way to go, and I find it a tetch
annoying that my Norton Protection Center flags me with "Attention Required!"
just because I've set my Windows Updates to "Notify Only".

Ah well. Can't have it all, can we? I'll go have my piece of chocolate mud
cake now.

....solo