Microsoft, atypically, admitted here they aren't sure why their automatic update program continues to spawn weirdness in some PCs. This gives me the same feeling I get when my doctor says, "hmm, that's interesting" while looking at my test results. I don't want interesting, I want confidence.
Yet confidence seems in short supply at Microsoft outside of the highest executive offices. Why aren't "no update" instructions being followed? Why are updates that shouldn't cause reboots causing reboots? Do you really believe Microsoft when they tell us the "no update" instructions don't apply to certain updates and they told us that before? Sounds like the typical right hand / left hand disconnect to me.
If nothing else, this current uncertainty should push you to verify your backup and restore procedures. Last year, a Microsoft Windows XP update hosed my video driver to the point I had to buy a new video board and reformat my hard drive. Yes, my data backups were current and I lost no pearls of wisdom (OK, no columns or blogs).
Unless you have a bare metal restore process in place, recreating a Windows desktop back to where it was before it crashed takes as least a day and often two. Do you have an extra day or two during the push to the end of the year? If you can handle one PC rebuild, does that mean you can handle a dozen in the same time? When you can't trust updates, you better trust your backup and restore process, because you'll need it sooner or later.
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