Microsoft Windows updates while it's in use

[Paul Finn]

I have seen Windows update at the computer shutdown, BUT not apply the updates until the computer is re-started. It doesn't happen every time and this looks like what caught Mr. McCaffery. It appears, sometimes, the updates are just downloaded on shutdown and then applied when the computer is started along with the mandatory operating delay during the start-up process.

Paul Finn

[Frank Cox]

Darin, you have to accept that these things are happening even if you have never seen it personally (yet). It happened to me when I started this thread and I know what I saw.

Microsoft Windows really is unsuited for serious business applications and this is one reason among many others why that is so. Unfortunately through network effects, historical market abuses and the like, it has been jammed into many places that it really shouldn't be and it has become almost impossible to dislodge.

[Martin McCaffery]

Why didn't you run the update when you shut the computer down instead?

I was given no indication that it was planning to run an update. I have had this happen several times. I'm guessing it downloads the update and waits for a reboot. Maybe there is someplace I can look to see if an update is waiting to happen, but it is all done without warning or permission.

[Ed Gordon]

I was given no indication that it was planning to run an update. I have had this happen several times. I'm guessing it downloads the update and waits for a reboot. Maybe there is someplace I can look to see if an update is waiting to happen, but it is all done without warning or permission.

Martin, to see the status of Windows Update go to:

Start
Setting
Update & Security

This takes you to this screen:

image.png

When updates are installed and a reboot is required to complete the update Windows will ask you for a time to do this if not now.

You can also right click on the Start icon and hover over 'Shutdown or sign out'. You will see:

Sign out
Sleep
Shutdown
Restart

If an update is ready to install you will also see additional options such as:

Install updates and shutdown
Install updates and restart

You can still do a shutdown or restart without installing updates.

See more information at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...ion=Windows_10

Nobody likes Windows Update, but if it is ignored it will surprise you at the most inconvenient time possible. If nothing else select the "Pause updates for 7 days" option:

image.png

[Leo Enticknap]

I have seen Windows update at the computer shutdown, BUT not apply the updates until the computer is re-started. It doesn't happen every time and this looks like what caught Mr. McCaffery. It appears, sometimes, the updates are just downloaded on shutdown and then applied when the computer is started along with the mandatory operating delay during the start-up process.

There are a lot of processes and services that can't be stopped and restarted without making the OS unstable and/or losing core functionality, meaning that to replace their program code with new, the process has to be download new code file > put it into an "action on reboot" folder > reboot computer > replace old file with new before that process or service is started in the normal course of events > continue boot processes. Some updates can be done without the need to reboot, e.g. some device drivers and malware definition files, but most can't.

[Steve Guttag]

I prefer to take control over MY machines. Sorry MS, you don't own my computer. You don't get to update unless I say to.:

Screen Shot 2023-04-16 at 11.56.00 AM.png

Incidentally, despite it claiming it is "up to date," it has not received any updates for some time. I started blocking windows updates when they were causing problems. Since the blocks, the problems have pretty much vanished.

[Mike Blakesley]

If there is a "critical" update like a major denial-of-function virus, do you get a "this is an emergency, we HAVE GOT TO UPDATE" notice?

[Marco Giustini]

I don't think so. You can manage your systems and decide what gets to your machines or you let Microsoft decide. I'm not aware of different levels of updates available from Microsoft. But as you can see above, with the proper tools you can take control of your machines.

[Steve Guttag]

No...while updates are blocked...nothing comes in. No notices. Heck, it is showing that it is up to date in that screen shot yet it definitely is not. It isn't even that I never do updates but they are much more rare.

[William Kucharski]

Precisely.

Apple doesn't "not support" legacy applications unless you count in newer operating systems on newer machines.

If you run those legacy applications on an older version of the OS, you can run them until the machines finally die.

I have a thirteen year-old machine that runs a version of macOS from three years ago because I have applications on it that still work that I refuse to pay to upgrade (Adobe Lightroom, actually, which I refuse to "subscribe" to.)

I have an even older machine that still works that works wonderfully for editing DVCAM video and I've no need to update to the latest version of Final Cut Pro or to use DaVinci Resolve quite yet.

[Frank Cox]

It just happened again late last night.

The movie I was watching was over, I walked into the projection room to shut things down.

"Updating. 30% complete. Do not turn your computer off."

So I couldn't shut the projector down or anything else until that finished. And it took a whole hour before it allowed me to communicate the cinema server and projector again.

I hope that computer never decides to update itself that when I'm going to start the movie. "Sorry folks, there's no show tonight due to a Windows update."

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Yep! This has been.a topic on here before, and there are at least three ways to shut the auto part off so you can still do it manually... I'm assuming Win 10... There is a lot of info on line. Same for Win 11.

[Marcel Birgelen]

What version and build of Windows are you running?

There are options to turn off/block updates immediately, although they all are somewhat of a hack.

Keep in mind though, you should never invite an unpatched Windows machine to the Internet... that's like inviting a random stranger from the bad side of town into your house while being drunk, it seldomly ends in something good.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

What version and build of Windows are you running?

There are options to turn off/block updates immediately, although they all are somewhat of a hack.

Keep in mind though, you should never invite an unpatched Windows machine to the Internet... that's like inviting a random stranger from the bad side of town into your house while being drunk, it seldomly ends in something good.

The methods shown in the video I posted are not hacks. They are all done using features already built into Windows. The firewall somewhat keeps hackers out, but my AT&T fiber modem does a far better job. On my Computers I have turned off Windows Updates in Component Services. That way you can still check for updates manually. I just updated this machine, a Lenovo M720 tiny, as it showed needing 8 updates. I generally do manual updates once a month. You can return to Auto Update simply by restarting it again in Component Services.

[Marcel Birgelen]

The methods shown in the video I posted are not hacks. They are all done using features already built into Windows. The firewall somewhat keeps hackers out, but my AT&T fiber modem does a far better job. On my Computers I have turned off Windows Updates in Component Services. That way you can still check for updates manually. I just updated this machine, a Lenovo M720 tiny, as it showed needing 8 updates. I generally do manual updates once a month. You can return to Auto Update simply by restarting it again in Component Services.

Pausing Windows updates will not bypass all update channels and Microsoft is still known to push "emergency updates" despite you having paused the updates.

The GPO-route, while it may not be a "hack" in a Windows Domain setting, on a stand-alone computer, it is considered a hack as it isn't in any way endorsed by Microsoft. The same is true for disabling Windows Update services. Now, whether or not something is a hack is sometimes more of an esoteric discussion, just like if a "hack" is a good thing or not.

The reality, I guess, is, that in a borderline (?) insane and imperfect world, hacks often are a necessary lesser evil.