Have you been stuck with 'Installing Windows Updates'
before, right before you leave work?
There is a way to know when the updates are coming, so that
you can install them in your own time. There are also ways of postponing
updates to install on shutdown, so that you can do them at your convenience.
The reason that updates are installed “as soon as possible” isn’t to make your
life inconvenient, it’s to try and keep your computer secure, and therefore
protect you and your company from vulnerability.
When do they arrive?
Windows Updates come out every second Tuesday of every
month. 6PM UK time is 9am for Microsoft though, so we won’t get the updates
until Tuesday evening – so it’s more than likely you’ll get the updates come
through on the 2nd Wednesday of
every month.
So what should I do?
What I would do is setup a reminder in your email or calendar, every 2nd
Wednesday of the month, in the morning, to manually go to Control Panel >
Windows Updates, and then click ‘Check for updates’, and then choose to
download and install them during the day, before you leave.
Can I postpone updates?
Yes, there are a few things you can do:
- Go to Control Panel > Windows Update > Change settings > Choose the 2nd or 3rd option, ‘Download updates…’ or ‘Check for updates…’, rather than the first option.
- Follow the instructions on this website to prevent your computer automatically installing updates once it’s downloaded them when you Shut Down your computer: http://www.askvg.com/how-to-disable-install-windows-updates-and-shut-down-option-in-windows-start-menu/
- If you still don’t have enough control, run “services.msc” from the Run dialog, and scroll down to ‘Windows Update’. If you right-click on it, you can either set it to Manual, or Disabled – but obviously please be aware this is a security risk and you must make sure you manually install the updates yourself as soon as you can.
