Question for Windows users...

[streetsoldier]

Who have Microsoft downloads automatically set up...

When we first got our DELL, we may have seen Microsoft downloads (patches, security "fixes", etc.) downloading every six weeks or so; lately, particularly within the past two weeks, they have been coming in every day (requiring download and restart each time).

My question is...could this be a result of the possibility of increased terrorist probes for "backdoors" to screw up the Internet? If someone here knows something, tell all... :o

[mf_dolphin]

Sorry to say but the only terrorists invovled here are Microsoft programmers. Often when Microsoft issues a patch to one thing they have to issues another patch to fix the things the last fix broke and so on. Just to give you an idea, when Windows 2000 shipped there were over 65,000 known bugs.

[chadtm80]

mf_dolphin is correct. same old same old

you need a patch to fix a patch that you put in to fix another patch

[coriolis]

[JQ Public]

Yeh don't worry...its just smthg ya gotta deal with like the rest of us ...but i know a certain someone with a bootleg version...they never do those updates.

[mf_dolphin]

That doesn't do you any good JQ. By not doing the updates you are wide open to all the security holes Microsoft released their stuff with.

[breeze]

Ya mean, I gotta stop ignoring those updates??? :o

[mf_dolphin]

That would be a good idea Breeze

[Rob-TheStormChaser]

Dont feel bad...I had to re-install all of that crap all over again just today and repatch the works just to get back to par with Millenium Edition. I usually turn that auto updates off...it speeds your computer up and keeps it from annoying you as well. It does help to keep up to date though, I check weekly as well as defrag and scan etc twice a week too. If you have things scheduled, it'll lower performance levels and you need this in order to thwart freezes and bootings etc.

[wannabehippie]

I believe you can deactivate the automatic update feature of windows XP. but it was a piece of code added by microsoft along with other features that they claim were for security reasons, but were in fact more to prevent people from sharing copies of O/s and other software by making them have to register each copy individually and making it only (legally) usable on one computer.

as for Robstormchaser. it sucks that your HD died, but why in the world would you install ME as your operating system on your new HD? that was probably one of THE worst O/S made by microsoft. I would have either used 98SE or windows 2000 or even XP if i had to, but never ME. being in the industry, i always see the most problems with ME computers.

peace
david

[coriolis]

you're right wannabe. I only have anectotal information - my own experience. But ME is a pain. I was using NT at work and it was rock solid. Now we're on XP and so far its fairly trouble free. But I have ME here at home, and it seems that I'm always messing with it. It was a nightmare when I got this computer. (gateway) it only had 56M memory and it wouldn't do anything until i upgraded to 256. I've been told that ME doesn't manage memory. It was always grinding to a halt. I installed a shareware memory manager that helped. But even now it still is buggy and after a hard day's work it gradually slows down. I do keep up with maintenance, have a firewall, run spybot, and all that, but even so, I need to reboot about once a day to keep it sharp!

[Rob-TheStormChaser]

I have ME and doesnt really bother me often...you just have to know what to tweak and what to leave alone. I have 640mb of memory after installing a 512 chip and I really dont need it. I guess that when the drives go, they go! I will invest into newer and higher grades in the next 2-3 years...I should be able to get by with what I have and then use this as a backup....besides....parts are real cheap and my warranty runs out in 2004...so I'm good.

[wannabehippie]

one addendum

if you are into computer games go with 98SE or XP. Windows 2000, while it is a very stable O/S, many games do not guarantee that they will work with it, as it was designed mainly for business use (hence its official name of windows 2000 professional )

but please, for the love of all of us IT professionals out there, please dont use ME


peace
david

[Rob-TheStormChaser]

lol...ME is a shoddy performer for the most part, but I really dont have anything hanging up while online...and my LAN is pretty far to where I might have brown outs with capabilities staying on...but I dont! I guess this 950 Athlon needs to be my 2nd computer now...as its over 2 years old now and it was one of the top of the line models back in 2000.

[streetsoldier]

Well, I'm running XP here with a 40MB C-drive and four separate "desktops"; I'm not complaining about the Microsoft downloads, just curious that so many are coming so fast lately.

[wannabehippie]

i have a windows XP computer at work.
as far as why so many downloads came so quickly, Microsoft engineers/programmers probably were working on several different patches and happened to finish them all at the same time.

but beware sometimes those patches contain bugs that are worse than what was before.

one of the earlier patches that Microsoft sent out on Outlook Express 6 a couple of months ago, made it nearly impossible to switch identities. they finally fixed that but a month later.

peace
david

[Rob-TheStormChaser]

I hear ya Bill....must be that time of year when they just get their tech teams out there finding more bugs and shipping out the patch kits to satisfy their clients. My windows update icon was barking at me all day today on and off, and I just re-installed this contraption a few hours earlier. It got a little relentless, so I shut it off again...lol

[streetsoldier]

Mine signals me when I see what appears (to me) to be an "olive with a pimento" showing up on the lower right taskbar of my screen; when finished, I get a prompt to click on the icon, which opens a window asking me to install, tells me when it's done, and asks me to restart.

Since I do all the cleanup and defragging daily on all "desktops", it seems that I'm doing everything I can just to keep the C-drive cleared (82% free space or above) with each new update.

[sunny shine]

It has to be because of the Microsoft "bugs". It is pretty sad when you can download their program that alerts you to "critical updates".

However, ALWAYS update.

[pawlee]

on your desktop, right click on your "My Computer" icon and drag down to where it says [properties] that will open a box with tabs. dependent upon what you have (Windows 98, ME or XP), you should see a tab that says "Automatic Updates"; click it and select "turn off automatic updating". this will solve your problem and no more Microsoft garbage will bother you again... if this doesn't work (forget what 98 or ME has) we'll go to plan B which is a little more complicated but there's more than one way to fix it. p

(sounds like y'all could use some tweaks to adjust settings that came from the factory.. yes? no? maybe i can help?)