Windows 7 Updates - DISABLE?

[ChrisGreaves]

Short of throwing my DELL laptop under a number 6 Bay Street TTC bus on my way home tonight, is there a way of really disabling Windows Updates?

I went to do a system restore the other day and discovered that Windows has been cheating on me - to my face!

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Sheeesh! Look at all those restore points cluttering up my hard drive.
And perhaps this is why internet access seems so slooooooow some days at the library?
I have Updates turned OFF since day one on this machine - I do update, but I like to run tests on a stable platform.

Any ideas?

I'm not against updates; I'm just against them happening behind my back.

(signed) "Getting closer to Apple by the day" of Toronto

[HansV]

I think updates to Windows Update itself are always installed, even if you have turned off automatic updates - you could be in serious trouble if you wanted to install recent updates with an outdated version of Windows Update.

Windows 7 creates an automatic restore point if none has been made for about a week, either manually or because of installing software. So there should never be more than a week (approximately) between subsequent restore points.

[ChrisGreaves]

I think updates to Windows Update itself are always installed, even if you have turned off automatic updates - you could be in serious trouble if you wanted to install recent updates with an outdated version of Windows Update.

Windows 7 creates an automatic restore point if none has been made for about a week, either manually or because of installing software. So there should never be more than a week (approximately) between subsequent restore points.

Thanks for this, Hans.
"updates to Windows Update" is not so bad; it is roughly the equivalent of checking air pressure in the tyres in case I need to drive to get more petrol.
The "automatic restore point" for the sake of having one is annoying - especially for someone like me who is retired and can get diverted from a project for several weeks (grin!).

In did a bite more searching (based on your response) and found this page and followed the simple instructions.
Let's see how this makes me feel:-

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[HansV]

What is your objection to the weekly automatic restore point?

[ChrisGreaves]

What is your objection to the weekly automatic restore point?

It shunts useable restore points off the end of the shelf.
I might be working on, say, three projects, nested in importance, so to speak.
A restore point that I made back in the middle of January has been deleted by "The System" in order to make room for "restore points for the sake of making a restore point".

I hadn't realised I could disable the critters.
I suspect that for 99.999% of Windows Users (i.e. all my friends except Loungers!) Automatic SRPs are a good thing.
When I get a phone call "Help!" I can be sure that we can roll back to within a week ago.
But me, I'm a control freak and I want to decide what happens to my machine and when.

Also ( :confession: ) I had reacted and thought that Windows was updating Windows; I'd not spotted that it was just the windows Updater that was being kept in fighting trim.

From many years back I had instilled in me a dread of the shifting sands of an unstable platform for development, and I have learned to hate unscheduled changes.

[Rebel]

What is your objection to the weekly automatic restore point?

"It shunts useable restore points off the end of the shelf.
I might be working on, say, three projects, nested in importance, so to speak.
A restore point that I made back in the middle of January has been deleted by "The System" in order to make room for "restore points for the sake of making a restore point".

According to Microsoft, "System Restore helps you restore your computer's SYSTEM FILES to an earlier point in time. It's a way to undo SYSTEM CHANGES to your computer without affecting your personal files, such as e‑mail, documents, or photos."

So unless your "projects" encompass the modification or rewriting of the Windows System files, none of your personal files will be affected in any way. But the choice is certainly yours of course.

[ChrisGreaves]

So unless your "projects" encompass the modification or rewriting of the Windows System files, none of your personal files will be affected in any way. But the choice is certainly yours of course.

Hi John! Got any snow left? (grin),

Many of my projects use the registry data; I am upgrading my MRUse which (amongst other things) grabs the various lists of most-recently-used files from the registry, and updates Microsoft Word’s paths (Documents folder location, Pictures folder location and the like), so when I am in developer-mode I’d rather NOT have system files change on me, especially during a bug-tracking phase.

As Hans has side-swipedly pointed out (hah hah!) the repeated updates were to the updater-vehicle, which doesn’t worry me at all; I had reacted/panicked and thought that the system was being updated.

My original complaint was with these automated system restore points shunting my own off the end of the shelf. I have now disabled the little blighters (please see below) and expect to retain my own system restore points as needed.

REBEL> But the choice is certainly yours of course.
You have such a nice Canadian way of saying things. I like it!

I am in favour of automatic updates (for security especially) for regular users. I would welcome devices in my car that check air pressure, fuel tank and so on, say, first time each day when the ignition is made. I figure that that would eliminate many cars stranded at the side of the highway. Configurable would be good (“Warn me when tank is truly only a quarter-full; less than ¾ full in winter-time”; “Suggest winter windshield washer between October and March” and so on.

Richard Dawkins (“A Devil’s Chaplain” chapter 3.2 “Viruses of the mind” (and/or in other places) suggests harnessing the power of viruses for benevolent purposes, to wit, infecting machines with anti-viral programs and updates. A form of continual vaccination. With default automated system restores on a weekly basis, MS has made a reasonable default for the majority of users (from my point of view). It’s as a developer than I detest changes to my system that I have not requested.

Cheers

[Rebel]

"It’s as a developer than I detest changes to my system that I have not requested."

Gotcha ! !

And yes, we still have a bit of snow left (we got approximately another 15 cm during the night on Saturday) - but NOT nearly as much as the Maritimes (thank goodness). We're seeing lots of sun these days, but it's still cold at nights. Last night it got down to -22C, but hopefully, that's the last of it!

[ChrisGreaves]

Gotcha ! !

It dawned on me later that the original post shows me with SRPs as I experimented with Tax packages.
I do use SRPs for their intended purposes!
I just hate the rules (of my system) changing behind my back!

[ChrisGreaves]

... none of your personal files will be affected in any way. But the choice is certainly yours of course.

SystemRestore.png

There’s a fine line, perhaps, between what belongs to me and what belongs to Wndows.

I spent 2½ hours this morning writing up various bits and pieces in a file called “Spare.doc”. Then I decided to take a break, and did a System Restore back to yesterday, to the time before I installed my new flatbed scanner (which installation seems to have failed; hence a new attempt later today, hence the SR).

My system, is now restored to yesterday around 4pm and I load Microsoft Word and use the File menu to resume operations on Spare.doc and TaDa! Spare.doc is not listed there (although it was listed there earlier this morning as I shut down and re-loaded Microsoft Word several times).

It seems to me that SR restores the registry in which, nowadays, are stored “Recent Files”, “Recent File List”, “FileNameMRU” and the like.

Now, perhaps the data belongs to Windows, but I consider the information (that I was editing Spare.doc this morning) belongs to me.
What's at risk is not the contents of Spare.doc. Not the data held in Spare.doc. That is safe and secure, for sure.
But a System Restore has obliterated the fact that I worked this morning.

It is clear that Windows respects my ownership of the file, but it doesn’t respect my ownership of this aspect of the history of the file.
(I hope we can still be friends )

[Rebel]

"But a System Restore has obliterated the fact that I worked this morning."
Simple explanation - Windows deduced that you were just "goofin' around" rather than actually working.

[ChrisGreaves]

Simple explanation - Windows deduced that you were just "goofin' around" rather than actually working.

(I had hoped we could still be friends )

[StuartR]

...
Richard Dawkins (“A Devil’s Chaplain” chapter 3.2 “Viruses of the mind” (and/or in other places) suggests harnessing the power of viruses for benevolent purposes, to wit, infecting machines with anti-viral programs and updates. A form of continual vaccination.

HP used to have a product/service that did exactly this. They reverse engineered viruses, separated the infectious part from the payload, and then repackaged with something that would inoculate the target computer. This relied on a central server testing IP addresses as the new "virus" wouldn't transmit by itself. The repackaging had a range of options from installing patches, through disconnecting the PC from the corporate network, to simply displaying a dialog box saying that the PC was vulnerable and needed an update.

[ChrisGreaves]

HP used to have a product/service that did exactly this. ...

Where is HP when we need them?

I didn't know that this had been done at a commercial level.
I figured enough geeks had done it as a proof-of-concept.