Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
Unless you're willing to pay a lot of attention on a very regular basis, automatic updates are an important part of keeping your machine safe.
What are your thoughts on automatic updates? Not Windows updates but automatic updates for my spyware and antivirus programs. I have many anti-spyware and McAfee internet security suite and I have automatic updates turned on on all. Could this lead to problems by leaving my computer open to the net?
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This one's easy: I love automatic updates.
Let me explain why, and some of the things to look for to make sure that your automatic updates are safe, and doing what you think.
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First, I believe strongly that automatic updates for anti-spyware and particularly anti-virus packages are an absolute must. There are simply too many changes - quite literally every day - that keeping them up to date is a must. Doing it automatically is by far the easiest and most reliable way.
Application updates I treat differently. I still want automatic notification of updates and new versions, but:
the update notification should be a true notification - not a regular "do you want to check for updates now" - check it for me, and bother me only if there is something I should be aware of.
the update notification should tell me what it is, and what it's going to do for me - including how important or critical the update might be
I should be able to choose not to install the updates right now, but rather be reminded later
I should also be able to choose not to install the update at all, at least until the next, new, update becomes available.
There are some software packages that do all that, and I really do appreciate them.
And typically, I do accept the updates, but at a time that's convenient for me.
Windows update is a special case. I believe that most users should have automatic updates turned on, and automatically install all updates. That being said, I have it set to notify only, and actually examine the updates being offered before I say yes. And I always say yes.
The relationship of Automatic updates to Windows update is another case of a missed opportunity as well. It appears that Automatic updates only deal with critical issues. If you actually visit the Windows Update site, you may find additional updates that you were not alerted to. (Like Office SP2, which I just now learned of as I visited the Windows Update site.) I would prefer some kind of proactive notification for those as well.
As to your concern about security - in a nutshell, I'm not terribly concerned. Most automatic updates are handled through the same mechanisms that your web browser uses to visit web sites. The result is that for most, you're not "opening up" any additional vulnerabilities by enabling automatic updates. And as long as your dealing with reputable vendors, the chances of "automatically" downloading some kind of malware is next to zero. You're at much greater risk by mistakenly clicking on an emailed attachment, not being behind a firewall, or visiting a malicious web site.
Article C2491 * December 16, 2005 « »
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
July 18, 2008 11:47 PM
automatic updates in our point of vew are not good things to us it means giving way to Genuin programs to intrude in our machines informing us
that we are using malicious soft ware that why keep automatic updates closed
November 18, 2008 10:57 PM
I have Automatic Updates enabled and like the feature, except for one irritating behavior. Some updates require a restart to take effect. I understand that, but I don't understand why Microsoft insists on doing the restart without permission. They give a brief notice and then do the restart. Several times, I've been working on something and have been called away from the computer momentarily. I know I should save before leaving, but I don't always remember. I hate it when I return to discover that the computer has automatically rebooted and I've lost what I was working on. Is there any way to disable this behavior and give me the notice so I can initiate the reboot when I'm ready for it?
20-Nov-2008
February 24, 2011 10:49 AM
I have most of my apps set to update automatically where possible, except for Windows Update. that I have set to download and notify - but even when I select to Install it still downloads all the selected updates!
And they wonder why people hate Microsoft?
July 11, 2011 8:20 AM
I have to disagree with you, just out of personal experience. Though I will acknowledge that updates are one of the surest ways to keep your machine safe. That's technology for you.
I bought an HP G62 series laptop last December and since February of this year I have had to restore it to factory settings several times because of these wonderful updates, which, after a time, make the computer freeze irreparably...
I can only assume that that's what causes my computer to overheat and in general act like a piece of worthless crap, since after restoring it I no longer have any personal programs. Nor do I visit sites or download content that would give me a virus (unless all of a sudden Facebook is a virus-ridden wasteland).
I've lost a lot of irreplaceable work and photos, and since I never know exactly when this piece of crap is going to go on strike, I can never prepare for it without losing a lot of work anyway. At this point I'd be better off with a typewriter, a netbook, or even a Macbook, which I have never owned before.
February 18, 2013 7:51 AM
I agree on the importance of the updates but I caution anyone who is thinking of applying them in a manufacturing environment, or for that matter, any environment where you are using bespoke software that hasn’t yet been tested!
If you are not expert in I.T., blindly applying even MS monthly security updates has the potential to cause catastrophic problems with your applications, especially if they are not "off-the-shelf" packages: I have seen more than one situation where an update has been applied and caused something to stop working BUT as per the original article, in a home environment, I’d advocate taking nearly all. However, I usually start watching the net day the updates are released and for the following fortnight in case there are any problems with the update breaking windows- These will be tested and reported by others during that time. If you have more than one PC, I suggest you update one first, let it run for a few days and if there are no problems, update the others.