Taylor said:
If you already have an update downloaded that needs installing, I don't
think stopping the service will remove the reminders. Install the update
that you are being reminded for.
I stopped the service, because it takes up ram and I just do the updates
manually every month or so. No big deal.
There are certainly circumstances in which Automatic Update must not be
permitted to run, ever, and this applies to both Vista and XP. I use and
maintain a fair number of systems and have personally seen AU cause
essential user processes to fail at extremely inconvenient times (such as
causing a court reporter's system to suddenly lose connection with the
receiving systems during a hearing).
In that context, though, the user must understand that this means they
*have* to check for updates manually, and actually do so.
-pk