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There's a free tool called Windows Update MiniTool that works very well for disabling auto-updates and then allowing you to update manually every so often. That

by ssheth 6y ago

There's a free tool called Windows Update MiniTool that works very well for disabling auto-updates and then allowing you to update manually every so often. That is what we install on our CNC machinery that have a Windows 10 backend. https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/windows_update_minitool.html https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/windows_update_mini...

AndrewUnmuted 6y ago
> free tool I'd rather describe this as a mail-in-rebate for the costs of running Windows 10. We sort of implicitly know there is this need to make the Windows lifestyle more sane, and can rely on tools like these existing. But the time it takes to research this, track down the best binary for the job (examining the source code is not always easy), makes me conclude that there's a real hidden cost to being a Windows user.
- TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
  It's not so hidden. It honestly astounds me that users are willing to put up with this bullshit. The most impressive thing about Microsoft as a company is the way it single-handedly lowered user expectations to the point where ads, security issues, and critical time-wasting failures are somehow considered an acceptable price of entry, and not evidence of an unacceptably shoddy, incompetent, and user-hostile product culture.
  - craftinator 6y ago
    Well, I came here to comment, but you already succinctly summed up my thoughts. Thanks for that!
  - phone8675309 6y ago
    People who run Windows aren’t the users - they’re the product, either with Microsoft selling their eyes with advertisements, harvesting their usage data through telemetry for a profit, using their numbers to push paid development software, or using their ubiquity to be the basis for computer literacy materials for public schools paid for by taxpayer.
    - ims 6y ago
      I think the user vs. product dichotomy is not right in this case. Microsoft really does make its money on products and support. You can see this on their public filings. The relevant dichotomy is more like: people who run Windows aren't the buyers. One-off personal licenses for home PCs are more than a rounding error but are certainly not what made Microsoft what it is. Governments and F500 companies buy Windows and Office for X00,000 machines for X0 years of support at a time. Enterprise procurement teams are the actual buyers whose opinions matter to product managers.
    - maest 6y ago
      > harvesting their usage data through telemetry for a profit Does MS sell their telemetry data?
pelasaco 6y ago
Please dont disable auto-updates. Instead configure your Windows machine to schedule them. Look your notifications. Treat it as a Car, not as a Toy.
- tokamak-teapot 6y ago
  I used to say the same, but my perception - and I know it's not reality, but every day with it feels like this: * I log in. * I start setting things up so I can start work. * I'm notified about critical updates. There will be a forced reboot soon... * I'm watching out in case something pops up while I'm typing and whatever key I was about to press causes the 'reboot' question to be answered - and I wait several minutes and lose flow entirely. * I log in. * I start setting things up again as they were so I can start work again. * There are more critical updates... Turning off auto-update is not an option, because there are so many security holes and I don't want to end up a victim. I also don't like having to fight to try and keep the OS from doing something it will push against, so trying to creep around letting it do updates when I'm not busy and reboots when I want it to but not asking me - waiting to be told - it's hard work and stressful. Windows is an amazing piece of tech and gets better all the time, but I find myself much more able to stay in the 'flow' and avoid stress in MacOS or Linux.
  - Delk 6y ago
    To be fair, I get notifications of "important updates" on my Fedora Workstation more often than I get on Windows. (Or at least I think I do; I don't use Windows that often.) Fedora also wants to reboot for nearly every bunch of updated packages that doesn't consist entirely of top-level applications, which seems to mean at least 95% of the times it wants to update. I think I get it why it wants to reboot: not only is it probably somewhat safer in terms of not screwing anything up in running session, but you can't be sure some running application or service isn't still using an outdated version of a library until you've restarted it. (Not to mention that the Linux kernel updates every week or so nowadays, but those are definitely not the only ones that trigger an update [edit: by which I of course mean "trigger a reboot"].) I tend to not use the graphical software updater and just ignore its notifications instead, and just update from the command line and reboot when it suits me. That does allow me to not have my workflow interrupted but it doesn't change the fact that I still do get notified of updates that require some kind of action pretty often. On the other hand, checking for those updates doesn't burn minutes on end of CPU time every time the OS is booted, as it seems to do on Windows 10.
lodovic 6y ago
Why not use Windows Server instead?
- eitland 6y ago
  Check the price tag.
  - sys_64738 6y ago
    You can run Server without product activation. I do it in a VM and think Server is well behaved.
    - eitland 6y ago
      nip180 wrote above: > I paid $200 for a Windows 10 pro license because I needed to run a Windows application in a virtual machine. I think if someone is willing to cheat on the licensing cost 4hey might just as well go with a pirated XP?

by ssheth 6y ago

AndrewUnmuted 6y ago

> free tool I'd rather describe this as a mail-in-rebate for the costs of running Windows 10. We sort of implicitly know there is this need to make the Windows lifestyle more sane, and can rely on tools like these existing. But the time it takes to research this, track down the best binary for the job (examining the source code is not always easy), makes me conclude that there's a real hidden cost to being a Windows user.

TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
It's not so hidden. It honestly astounds me that users are willing to put up with this bullshit. The most impressive thing about Microsoft as a company is the way it single-handedly lowered user expectations to the point where ads, security issues, and critical time-wasting failures are somehow considered an acceptable price of entry, and not evidence of an unacceptably shoddy, incompetent, and user-hostile product culture.
- craftinator 6y ago
  Well, I came here to comment, but you already succinctly summed up my thoughts. Thanks for that!
- phone8675309 6y ago
  People who run Windows aren’t the users - they’re the product, either with Microsoft selling their eyes with advertisements, harvesting their usage data through telemetry for a profit, using their numbers to push paid development software, or using their ubiquity to be the basis for computer literacy materials for public schools paid for by taxpayer.
  - ims 6y ago
    I think the user vs. product dichotomy is not right in this case. Microsoft really does make its money on products and support. You can see this on their public filings. The relevant dichotomy is more like: people who run Windows aren't the buyers. One-off personal licenses for home PCs are more than a rounding error but are certainly not what made Microsoft what it is. Governments and F500 companies buy Windows and Office for X00,000 machines for X0 years of support at a time. Enterprise procurement teams are the actual buyers whose opinions matter to product managers.
  - maest 6y ago
    > harvesting their usage data through telemetry for a profit Does MS sell their telemetry data?

pelasaco 6y ago

Please dont disable auto-updates. Instead configure your Windows machine to schedule them. Look your notifications. Treat it as a Car, not as a Toy.

tokamak-teapot 6y ago
I used to say the same, but my perception - and I know it's not reality, but every day with it feels like this: * I log in. * I start setting things up so I can start work. * I'm notified about critical updates. There will be a forced reboot soon... * I'm watching out in case something pops up while I'm typing and whatever key I was about to press causes the 'reboot' question to be answered - and I wait several minutes and lose flow entirely. * I log in. * I start setting things up again as they were so I can start work again. * There are more critical updates... Turning off auto-update is not an option, because there are so many security holes and I don't want to end up a victim. I also don't like having to fight to try and keep the OS from doing something it will push against, so trying to creep around letting it do updates when I'm not busy and reboots when I want it to but not asking me - waiting to be told - it's hard work and stressful. Windows is an amazing piece of tech and gets better all the time, but I find myself much more able to stay in the 'flow' and avoid stress in MacOS or Linux.
- Delk 6y ago
  To be fair, I get notifications of "important updates" on my Fedora Workstation more often than I get on Windows. (Or at least I think I do; I don't use Windows that often.) Fedora also wants to reboot for nearly every bunch of updated packages that doesn't consist entirely of top-level applications, which seems to mean at least 95% of the times it wants to update. I think I get it why it wants to reboot: not only is it probably somewhat safer in terms of not screwing anything up in running session, but you can't be sure some running application or service isn't still using an outdated version of a library until you've restarted it. (Not to mention that the Linux kernel updates every week or so nowadays, but those are definitely not the only ones that trigger an update [edit: by which I of course mean "trigger a reboot"].) I tend to not use the graphical software updater and just ignore its notifications instead, and just update from the command line and reboot when it suits me. That does allow me to not have my workflow interrupted but it doesn't change the fact that I still do get notified of updates that require some kind of action pretty often. On the other hand, checking for those updates doesn't burn minutes on end of CPU time every time the OS is booted, as it seems to do on Windows 10.

lodovic 6y ago

Why not use Windows Server instead?

eitland 6y ago
Check the price tag.
- sys_64738 6y ago
  You can run Server without product activation. I do it in a VM and think Server is well behaved.
  - eitland 6y ago
    nip180 wrote above: > I paid $200 for a Windows 10 pro license because I needed to run a Windows application in a virtual machine. I think if someone is willing to cheat on the licensing cost 4hey might just as well go with a pirated XP?