Tuesday, March 22, 2005

I told you already

I like Windows XP's Automatic Update feature; if there are patches available, particularly security patches, I want to know ASAP. Although I don't quote trust Microsoft enough to let it auto-install updates, so I have mine set to "download, but let me choose when to install"; this also lets me choose what to install.

But, having installed an update earlier, I'm getting a bit sick of seeing this alert popping up:

Alert: Automatic Updates: Updating your computer is almost complete. You must restart your computer for the updates to take effect. Do you want to restart your computer now? with buttons Restart Now and Restart Later.

Look, buster: I'm in the middle of something. I already told you I'll restart later. Take my word on this. You don't need to keep popping back up every 15 minutes like a nervous puppy: "are you gonna restart now? how about now? huh? huh?"

6:12 PM | permanent link

Comments:

Yes that is so infuriating!! Sometimes I think I would prefer the hackers and the viruses.

Anonymous Anonymous | April 01, 2005 8:02 PM | permanent link  

Personally, I think XP is a trojan virus with a nice bit of nagware on the side.

Anonymous Anonymous | April 13, 2005 3:46 PM | permanent link  

http://blogs.msdn.com/tim_rains/archive/2004/11/15/257877.aspx

Anonymous Anonymous | June 04, 2005 5:54 PM | permanent link  

That last comment as a link: Is Windows Automatic Update Client rebooting your system unexpectedly?

Blogger James | June 04, 2005 6:04 PM | permanent link  

Dear friend,

Microsoft has a very annoying dialog box about rebooting when Windows update has downloaded and installed a patch that requires a reboot. Somebody there thought it would be a good idea to annoy the user every 10 minutes until they rebooted or bought a Macintosh. You can help fix this sorry state of affairs. Please send the following message to mswish@microsoft.com with the subject line "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to reboot any more".

---------8<--cut here-->8----------
Dear Microsoft,

Your mice are great. Rodents are far less annoying than your reboot reminders. Please let me determine how long I want to wait between reminders when a patch has been installed
that requires a reboot, or else please let me know which model Macintosh I should purchase.

Thank you.

P.S. Please re-read this email every 10 minutes until you have fixed the annoying popup box.

P.S. Please re-read this email every 10 minutes until you have fixed the annoying popup box.

P.S. Please re-read this email every 10 minutes until you have fixed the annoying popup box.

P.S. Please re-read this email every 10 minutes until you have fixed the annoying popup box.

P.S. Please re-read this email every 10 minutes until you have fixed the annoying popup box.

P.S. Please re-read this email every 10 minutes until you have fixed the annoying popup box.

P.S. Please re-read this email every 10 minutes until you have fixed the annoying popup box.

P.S. Please re-read this email every 10 minutes until you have fixed the annoying popup box.

P.S. Please re-read this email every 10 minutes until you have fixed the annoying popup box.

P.S. Please re-read this email every 10 minutes until you have fixed the annoying popup box.

P.S. Please re-read this email every 10 minutes until you have fixed the annoying popup box.
---------8<--cut here-->8----------

Now pass this along to everyone you know and ask them to send the same email to mswish@microsoft.com.

Anonymous Anonymous | July 29, 2005 8:31 AM | permanent link  

Click Start, then Run. Type services.msc and press Enter. Right-click Automatic Updates, and select Stop.

The popups will go away, and the Automatic Updates service will restart next time you reboot your computer.

Jeff

Anonymous Anonymous | October 30, 2005 12:47 PM | permanent link  

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