How to: switch off Windows updates

It’s not difficult to get me started about what I don’t like about Windows but the “yellow shield of death” surely has to be up there. When that yellow shield appears in the bottom left of my screen, with it’s stupid little exclamation mark in the middle of it, I want to sling my laptop across the room. It is of course, the dreaded Windows Update which just sits there glaring at me intently like my dog when it needs a walk.

Click on it and you’re given two options – update Windows automatically or a personalized update. Select either and you’re reassured that you can continue working while Windows updates itself. Henceforth, your hard drive grinds away like it’s going to explode for the next hour and any work performed during this time is like wading through treacle. But it’s when the update is done that really gets me. Windows Update harasses you every 5 minutes like a bully that you need to shut-down and update now for the updates to take effect. Would it really have killed Microsoft to have produced an operating system by now that doesn’t require restarts after every single update?

The good news is that at least Microsoft have allowed us to disable automatic Windows Updates. Simply go to the Control Panel, Performance and Maintenance, System Properties and then select the Automatic Updates tab. Remember however that from now on, you’ll have to update Windows manually by going to the Windows Update site which is quite important because updates usually fix security holes and issues.