Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

troyhunt.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 567 posts

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#231

Post by setq »

bigbugbag wrote: post #225
setq wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That only happens if you put the updates off of they've been there for a couple of days and you have something running that makes it assume that the machine is still active. People seeding torrents overnight seems to be the only place I see that not happen. See update notifications? At the end of the day, restart and install the updates. It's not rocket science. It doesn't just hit patch Tuesday and then reboot immed…

I have a friend that booted her computer to windows 7, logged into gmail and facebook, had to leave her computer to care for her little kid and came back to her computer in the middle of windows 10 installation. She had seen no warning whatsoever. A client had started a time consuming process before leaving the office, came back the following morning with the process having failed due to windows applying updates and…

I very much doubt she had no warning. You got two warnings and had to opt out. She probably just clicked through them. Check the event log and scheduler logs. It will have the event in there saying the user consented to it. I had to find this on a machine after a user complained it didn't tell him and it clearly did and he clicked through.

> I don't know what you mean by "this has to be done", there is no obligation to apply updates. What if I want my computer to run a windows without updates ? Am I not entitled to use my own property as I so choose ?

If your machine becomes a botnet node and causes problems for other people, which is a big problem, then you forfeit the right. The same thing if your apartment leaks water into another one. Be a good citizen.

Failed updates, now that's the only valid part of your point. I've had a few and they weren't disruptive but this is just my case.

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#232

Post by fwn »

rhodysurf wrote: post #179
masklinn wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Its insane there is no ability to only update manually. There is.

How? Ive tried group policies and the like and nothing seems to stick.

You can disable the update service. It works since at least Windows 98 and takes maybe 5 clicks.

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#233

Post by mattmanser »

thro1111111 wrote: post #180
capitalF wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A better option is to open "gpedit.msc", then open "Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components" Then spend an afternoon going through each option, setting enabled/disabled for everything you don't want or don't recognize. You can easily disable entire subsystems like Cortana, tips, telemetry, camera, biometrics, error reporting, games, Homegroup, Defender, Window…

Do they stay deactivated even after updates?

Yes, because they're intended for corporate IT to use.

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#234

Post by emodendroket »

brainfire wrote: post #151
nugget wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cleverest move was to integrate Cortana with local file and application search, which many users likely use as a universal command line/shortcut (hit windows key and just start typing). I find that when I disable Cortana, local search becomes severely degraded. If anyone has any tips on how to fix this, I'd appreciate them.

What do you mean by "degraded"? Does anyone else have this problem?

I never noticed.

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#235

Post by 15charlimit »

setq wrote: post #118
cousin_it wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You fill your car up with fuel regularly because it has been warning you it's nearly empty for a while I like this analogy! A car that runs out of fuel when its manufacturer tells it to! > Windows only updates when you're doing something because you're putting everyone else at risk Are you sure it's me putting people at risk, and not Microsoft?

It's you. Look at the spread of this malware. If MS17-010 was applied automatically unconditionally, this would have not spread. The global scale of it shows how the end user is less trustworthy than the vendor.

If Microsoft hadn't burned a decade's worth of "leave auto-updates on to keep your system safe!" public goodwill by force-feeding WIN10 BS to a massive number of people who did not want it, it's highly likely that this update would have been nearly unconditionally applied.

The default attitude of most people I've interacted with regarding technology is apathy. If it works, they're happy and they leave it alone.

Do you really think that a significant number of non-tech people would have gone to the trouble of looking up how to turn off updates to their facebook/email/google machine if Microsoft hadn't caused a massive shitstorm with their forced update BS?

The vendor is entirely at fault for making stupid short-sighted decisions that caused users to lose trust in the update process. No amount of handwaving can change that fact.

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#236

Post by bigbugbag »

ZoFreX wrote: post #153
rhodysurf wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people run complex simulations that take days or weeks to run, and a forced reboot in the middle ruins progress. If someone needs to skip an update on their own machine and their own network that is their right.

> If someone needs to skip an update on their own machine and their own network that is their right. And if you want your machine to DDoS Playstation Network that's your right too, right? And if I want my kid to get measles and spread it around, that's my right? As much as you may argue it's your machine, and your right, sooner or later your choices start to impact other people. What about their rights, then?

What is your point ? That microsoft should be better at security in the first place ? That Sony should refrain from playing stupid games to prevent winning stupid prizes ? That computer vulnerabilities are a contagious disease ?

Man you're in for an amazing time when you will learn about that stupidity called the Internet of Things.

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#237

Post by setq »

bigbugbag wrote: post #220
setq wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has never happened to me unless I've actively ignored it and I sit in front of a Windows PC for 12 hours a day and have done for 19 years.

Nice anecdotal evidence. Mine is that this has never happened to me since I switched to different OSs than Microsoft's, circa windows XP.

I use iOS and CentOS regularly. It doesn't happen either.

However the former has a different security model and the latter is mainly run by experts. The point is moot.

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#238

Post by mseebach »

Silhouette wrote: post #199
mseebach wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, things are complicated, but airlines manage to routinely take $100m devices out of service for days to months for servicing, so it seems like a bad excuse that a hospital can't plan around taking any given device offline for a few hours every couple of years.

But it's not every couple of years, is it? The patch for the current widespread problem was released just a couple of months ago, and there have been more security patches for other things since then. Also, those $100m devices aren't in service 24/7/365. No-one takes an airplane out of service in mid-flight to apply a security update.

Sorry, the two years was a reference to Windows XP, of which there were also way too many installs still around (although possibly not on critical devices, but all the more irresponsible to not have upgraded them, then).

> No-one takes an airplane out of service in mid-flight to apply a security update.

No, not mid-air, but close to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_airworthiness_direct...

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#239

Post by Silhouette »

moonshinefe wrote: post #121
Grue3 wrote: post #83

I'm currently on Windows 7 and don't want to accidentally install Windows 10. Turning off updates seems to be the only reliable way to do this.

The window for the free 7 -> 10 update is long gone, turn your updates back on and install security updates until they run out in 2020.

You can't just install security updates in Windows 7 any more. The only option via Windows Update itself is the monthly roll-up that includes everything. You have to jump through hoops or have a centrally administered system where the admin is jumping through hoops to do anything more selective, such as installing only the security updates.

Re: Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update

#240

Post by emodendroket »

Silhouette wrote: post #229
ZoFreX wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No mention that disabling Microsoft update trend is a logical answer No, it isn't. Disabling update isn't a logical answer to _anything_ except "what's the best way to get malware". If you don't want Microsoft's "spyware" don't install their OS. There is no coherent logic to simultaneously not trusting Microsoft, and running their code - any version of it.

There is no coherent logic to simultaneously not trusting Microsoft, and running their code - any version of it. Of course there is. Many of us found Windows 7 to be a useful OS and trusted Microsoft of that era to produce it. That doesn't necessarily mean we trust Microsoft of this era or more recent Microsoft products to be something we want to use. There is no logical incompatibility here. They've simply changed t…

So what you're proposing is, in effect, running an OS outside of its support window.
Post reply on HN