The Illusion Of Control
Posted on | June 26, 2008 at 10:45 pm | 7 Comments
Pet Peeve of the Day: On the eve of Bill Gates’ departure from the company he built, it seems only right to complain about Microsoft. So here’s my latest beef. Sometime in the past several months, they changed the Windows Update procedure (for Windows XP at least) so that updates are only installed when you turn off the computer:
This is extremely annoying because I only shutdown the computer when I’m leaving the house, and I’m usually in a hurry. There doesn’t appear to be any way to install the updates at any other time. Sometimes the updates can take a long time to install, which makes it hard to exit the house in a timely manner. I have to wait for the PC to completely shutdown so I can turn off the power strip and leave the house. I know that I can say to install them later, but then I have to remember to shutdown the computer at some point when I’m not just leaving.
I’ve got the “Notify me but don’t automatically download or install them” option checked in Automatic Updates, which used to tell you when updates are available, and ask you if you wanted to download them. If you said yes, then you would get another notification when the download was done asking if you wanted to install the updates. Now it no longer does that second part. It doesn’t tell you when the downloads are finished and it doesn’t allow you to install them. To install them you actually have to shutdown the computer. I’m sure Microsoft changed this because 1) They think we’re stupid, and 2) they want to be sure we install the updates (especially the “Windows Genuine Advantage” trusted computing crap). But they could’ve at least given the option to have it work the old way for us not-quite-so-stupid people.
Yes, I know I can just turn off automatic updates completely and not worry about this. But I do want to get the security updates and I wouldn’t remember to keep checking for them. Plus, the manual update procedure from the website is a pain. And for all I know, it works the same way as the automatic updates now and will only install the updates when you turn off the computer.
Enjoy your retirement, Bill. I hope you don’t have to install anything on your Windows PC.
Latre.
Jogged Today: Yes (@ 61°F)
Songs That Came Up On The iPod While Jogging:
- “Lies Of The Living Dead” (The Minus 5)
- “Where You Going Northern” (Game Theory)
- “Romeo Poe” (Tribe)
- “Closer To Heaven” (Pet Shop Boys)
- “The Wheel Made Man” (The Danielson Famile)
- “There Was a Few” (Material Issue)
- “Present Tenses” (Get Him Eat Him)
- “Kerry Kerry” (Cinerama)
Very few joggers/walkers out this morning, even though it was a gorgeous day. Very odd.
Comments
7 Responses to “The Illusion Of Control”
June 26th, 2008 @ 11:53 pm
Can’t you just select shut down, leave the house, and not turn off the power strip before you leave if the install is taking too long?
June 27th, 2008 @ 1:16 am
Can’t you just buy a complicated gadget that uses a video camera and image recognition software connected to a solenoid-based actuator arm mounted to the wall joist to shut off the outlet strip after Windows says it’s OK?
June 27th, 2008 @ 4:17 am
This might or not work for you, but here’s how I deal with this – I have my firewall (ZoneAlarm) set so that “Generic Host Process for Win32 Services” has to ask anytime it wants an internet service. On startup, it asks to use 2 protocols, DNS, which I always grant (because the internets don’t work without it) and HTTPS over port 6557 or something like that, which is the windows update service. If it’s going to be convenient for me to take an update, I allow the HTTPS request. If I’m just checking email and rss before I leave for work in the morning, I deny the request.
So the prompt to do the update is always present (and I don’t have to go through the clunky manual process), but I get to choose when it happens.
Downside: I have to click through the zone alarm dialogs on every system start.
June 27th, 2008 @ 4:28 am
Just wait til you get Vista. It has a lot of “really cool” features that you just know were dreamed up by someone’s 13-year-old nephew. Unfortunately, I don’t want my operating system to be cool, I want it to be functional.
June 27th, 2008 @ 8:44 am
Can’t you just select shut down, leave the house, and not turn off the power strip before you leave if the install is taking too long?
My OCD will not allow me to do that. I’ve got peripherals plugged into the power strip as well as the computer and I want it all OFF when I’m not there for several hours.
June 27th, 2008 @ 8:48 am
This might or not work for you, but here’s how I deal with this – I have my firewall (ZoneAlarm) set so that “Generic Host Process for Win32 Services” has to ask anytime it wants an internet service.
I just use the Windows Firewall (along with the one in the DSL modem, which works very well), and it’s not nearly as configurable as ZoneAlarm (which I have on my work PC). Plus, I usually boot my PC when I get home from work the day before, and I don’t really know at that time if I’m going to have enough time the next morning to install an update. Interesting approach though!
June 27th, 2008 @ 5:36 pm
Lisa says (hey! it’s a Lou Reed song…) “Just wait til you get Vista…” – Flasshe, I sincerely hope you’re smarter than that.
As to your quandary: buy a timer, leave it in the “on” position at all times, except when there’s an update installing, in which case you set it to go off in however long you think the update will take + reasonable safety overtime.