I’m sure this is brought up a million times. Why, when you go to shut down your PC, you select shut down and install updates. Turn it on next time and it then installs an update. I have work to do and it’s going on 30 minutes.

I still use AOL because for emails I just need freakin' emails, but they used to do something that royally pissed me off.

I'd do some work, get things handled, first thing in the morning, and I'd be ready to leave for an appointment. I'd close the AOL software and it would announce it was going to do an update. There was no way to opt out.

These sometimes took a half an hour. After five or six of these making me late for work I finally unplugged the damn computer whenever I got this notice. I then knew I'd have to spend time doing this when I got home, but holy hell, I could then make the choice!

Once I just went to the AOL website instead of using their software, I never had that problem again.

Companies should avoid circumstances where their software holds someone hostage for a process to be done!

I was in the audience at a seminar when the presenter's computer decided that it was time to update.

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You can turn OFF the automatic updates and update manually.

There are three stages to the updates: Download, Phase 1, Phase 2. Phase 2 must be done at boot time. Download and Phase 1 can be done while multi-tasking.

I keep the traveling laptop strictly on manual updates and I'm not anal about keeping it on the leading edge. The office desktop is always ON and is free to update late at night. I never notice the updates. My home computer is on Auto, but I keep it powered down during the day. When I come home I'll turn ON the computer, then do my chores. Chores are an hour or more. If the system needs to do Phase 2 at that time, I'll not notice.

buzz, good time management.

There's a related question at [Link: remotecentral.com].

Buzz. I get it. However Microsoft says, install software updates and power off when done. Why is it that it installs the update when I turn it back on? Install the fucting update and turn off and be ready when I need it. I don’t shlt and wipe the next day. I guess these operating systems companies do.

Cell phones need to be power cycled for the updates to finish, according to ATT and others- maybe they build a command into the update that requires it, just to piss us off.

Yes. They tell us they're going to install the update, so we go, good, great, I can just leave this thing for the day and go to bed... or whatever. Then the start of my next day is interrupted by the actual update.

Thing is, no matter how many times it happens, it's always unexpected and irritating.

It's similar to changing socks while running. One cannot replace fundamental components of the operating system while they are in use. Phase 1 can build an image of fundamentals that can then be started in a controlled sequence. Phase 1 also builds a checkpoint. And, attempting to keep user programs running while the operating system is being shuffled out from under is very difficult. For example, early in the boot cycle the full file system is not yet running and this is a good time to update that component.

You are missing exactly what windows is missing. Install the update and shut down like the text, info window or whatever they want to call it. I'm not using it. I selected shut down and install. So it's ready next time I need it. It can't be that hard.

Do you pay for any AOL services?

Even more annoying is if you initiated an update, then delayed the Phase 1 shutdown request. Then, if you later ask for a shutdown, the shutdown will require more time as the system prepares for the Phase 2 activity during the next boot. This can be very annoying as you are trying to shut down and leave a customer site.

In my opinion it is not hard to manage this. Which version of Windows are you using? As I recall there are settings for this. (that I dealt with years ago)

Auto updates happen while I'm away from the computer and my workflow is not uninterrupted. One annoyance for me is that the update might rearrange the window layout of programs that were open as the update was initiated.

Yes. When there are problems, they take care of business. It's worth it to step out of the f*@ked up world of looking up forums to see if someone has asked a similar question five years ago, so someone else can provide step by step instructions of how to solve things where the steps and the things they want me to click on are NOT what come up when I carefully follow their instructions.