Today D. Spencer Hines commented courteously on the subject
at hand
I'm using XP Pro SP2 and there were SEVEN updates for me --
including the Junk Email Filter update.
I downloaded and installed all seven.
Egad! You didn't download and install them all at once did you?!
That's an invitation for disaster with little chance of a roll-
back, even if the installer wrote an RP. Also, I don't let any
ersatz M$ spam, malware, or E-mail stuff near my HD.
When I download and install, I set my own RP, close everything
down, and carefully look at what each one is for. If there's
even 0.1% I don't understand or don't know what it does for me
or to me, I uncheck the box and don't do it.
If I want to get an update later, I always can. But, once
installed, an errant patch can be murder to roll back,
particularly if you don't notice the damage for hours, days, or
even weeks. Now, I'm sure that plenty of people will douse me
with napalm saying "been running auto update for years with no
problems," to which I say, "if you're lucky, you don't have to
be smart, but if you're smart, you don't have to be lucky."
