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All Forums > Tech Talk > Tech Talk Forum Page 14 > Windows Security Updates Necessary?
AuthorPost
Opium
Deactivated User

300 Posts
3/12
Posted - May 30 2012 : 2:54PM
as soon as i got my new PC last week i turned off all the windows updates/automatic updates. the main reason being on my old PC they would always just pop up and slow my PC down and sometimes i had to restart my PC and they were just annoying. that was with windows XP and it was sometime in late 2007 that i turned off all windows updates. so basically i was fine for over 4 years, i never got any serious viruses or anything and AVG antivirus full version seemed to do fine helping with that. so now i have windows 7 on a new PC i hope to use for at least 5 years and i was speaking to someone earlier today that said i should at least update the windows major important "security updates" but not the less important "optional" windows updates. is this true and are these updates REALLY necessary in order to keep my PC safe/running smoothly? and how do i tell the difference between these "important" security updates and the other windows updates? also how long do the updates take on average to complete, do i need to restart my PC for them to work, and how often (the minimum) should i update them? any feedback is greatly appreciated...

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BYOB_Kenobi
Senior Member

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” - Kierkegaard
2684 Posts
8/09
Posted - May 30 2012 : 3:14PM
The whole premise behind updates are two patch security vulnerabilities and to fix bugs.
You/everyone should update all critical security patches and even non-critical security patches. Computer security is really important and you are lucky to not get any, but some aren't so lucky. Basically there's no downside to Windows security updates.
For all laboratory computer clusters I've advised in the past, I usually encourage all updates, Office is optional but advisable.
There's only been 1 update that had a minor problem (formatting), but was resolved in a couple of weeks, since Windows 95.
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Goldstein All-Star Supporter
All-Star Member

"You have sacrificed nothing and no one."
3689 Posts
8/10
Posted - May 30 2012 : 5:01PM
Updates are absolutely critical!
It is simply foolish to disable them entirely -- particularly when Windows gives us a workable alternative.
The "notify me but don't automatically download or install them" option prevents the computer from taking you to update hell (and bogging down your computer -- always at the worst possible time).
Here is the setting in Windows XP (i.e. screencap taken from a computer running XP).
(Windows 7 allows you to make this same choice, as well.)
XP_AutomaticUpdates.jpg
So, when you see the updates are ready icon in the system tray (lower right of screen in the taskbar), YOU decide when you want to download and install the updates.
FYI, I do the same thing with ALL my programs that need regular updates (i.e. Flash, Java, Adobe Reader), and even disable the automatic updates and scans with my anti-virus/malware software.
Of course, I REGULARLY take care of these updates and scans as a matter of due course!
If you're still using XP, you absolutely MUST see that you have SP3 (Service Pack 3) installed.
Then, I strongly encourage you to manually check for updates ASAP.
Be sure to install all the critical updates.
Then, review the others and choose those that make sense for you.
If you click on the "Windows Update Web Site" link, in the Automatic Updates window (the pic posted here), it will take you to the right place.
NOTE: Going to the "Windows Update Web Site" and performing Windows updates will require that you use your Internet Explorer browser.
This is not a problem!
If you are using another browser as your default browser, simply be sure to NOT allow IE to set itself as your "default browser" when you get the "IE is not your default browser" dialog box.
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All Forums > Tech Talk > Tech Talk Forum Page 14Windows Security Updates Necessary?

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