Should I use Microsoft to update my win 7.
 

Hi all just started using a desktop given to me that is about 2 years old and has had little use...it runs win 7,

Its never had any MS updates on line,

I do hear horror stories of computers running very badly after a windows update,

So should I worry or not and just update it.

Nick.

Worry if you don't update it!

Mac

:ok:

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: :eek:

If that thing is going ANYWHERE near the internet for ANY amount of time, you absolutley MUST apply ALL outstanding updates.

No ifs, no buts and don't believe all the nonsense you read on the internet about "computers running very badly after a windows update".

(Oh and make sure you have good BACKUPS and good AntiVirus!)

Right I will sort it right away...thanks guys.

My XP SP2 machine has NEVER had any Windows updates in eight years.

Amazing how it still works :rolleyes:

There is a difference between working and being secure and the APIs the software developers use being up to date.

I trust you are going to dispose of said XP machine in April otherwise your risks are only going to get worse.

mixture, as the Update topic has been raised, I wonder if you could clarify something for me. I've just installed the important (Win 7) updates but not the optional.

When you say apply ALL outstanding updates do you mean the optional ones as well? How is one to know the benefits of the optional ones? Cheers and thanks for your assistance throughout 2013:ok:

Send Mixture an E-mail with an attachment and see if he agrees it's in top shape :E

XP and Happy enough
 

Same here, and I've done the same with many older MS OS's too. Updates are good things, but many create problems so my approach is to never update anything until many others have- I let them spend the hours and days it takes to find the bugs and the solutions :ugh: My internet connection is unstable and slow so updates happen when I've got the time. And this PC is just my toy, not my virtual heartbeat as it is with many others :p

It also depends on your usage. I have absolutely nothing on my machine that could hurt me personally- no banking, no bills, no CC statements or important personal data whatsoever. If you do have this stuff, update quickly or you may be vulnerable to serious problems. If it's just your toy too, your biggest real risk is that the old HD will die and need replacing, and that makes data back-ups more important than getting updates. Get the updates when you can and let the others worry themselves to death :E

Soon enough that computer will become just like the rest owned by people with no regard for the security of their computer or the good of the internet.... another zombie node spamming out to the greater internet.... :yuk:

Absolute load of unadulterated rubbish !

BOTH backups and updates are important. No ifs, no buts, no "toy or no toy". If you've got a computer, you've got a responsibility to back it up and update it. Even more important if your computer is connected to the internet. Consider it like a pet... you wouldn't consider either feeding your dog or taking it to the vet.... you do both. If you're incapable of doing both, you shouldn't own a dog or a computer. :E

If you think updates are unimportant.... I've seen lots of updates that are there to, for example, avoid data corruption due to some bug in the SCSI/ATA drivers. Don't bother patching and... well... your data ain't going to live long once the bug hits you.

Might help if I replace the words important and optional with must and should respectively.

The optional updates will cover new feature, minor updates, minor bug fixes. Stuff which is probably worth having, but doesn't have a security or major system stability implication and hence is classified as optional. All optional updates eventually get rolled-up in to a Service Pack, so you'll get them eventually one way or another (since Service Packs tend to be classified as Important).

mixture, thanks for clarification.

I agree - I raised a couple of bug reports with MS about audio CD playback in Win 7 in 2010, which did - eventually - get fixed in one of the optional updates. I'm sure a lot of people must have raised it for them to have fixed it, but it shows that a) they do listen, and b) the optional updates are worth installing.

I scan ALL updates presented before installing, but I'm looking for strong reasons NOT to install, rather than the other way around.

SD

"Amazing how it still works :rolleyes:"

Yeah, as a pwned zombie bot to clog up the Net

Mac

:mad:

Personally I have always found that updating is a lot more dangerous than sitting around clueless.

That might change if I could find a simple and straightforward backup system - but so far I havent been able to find one.

Typical example is Google Earth which appears to have been recently updated to produce a message "This program will not work on your computer". Unfortunately I had not realised that it updated automatically.

I am still waiting for the Year 2000 bug to hit.......

Win 98SE machine still going well, it has the occasional virus scan, defrag and a had a disk image at creation time but that's all.

It is needed to run DOS windowed programs.

I think I will stop working before it does.

All these people claiming they never update their systems and have never had a problem is a bit like the people who say that they have smoked all their lives and haven't developed lung cancer.

Why do 'The Experts' always claim that an out of date system spells gloom and doom for the owner/user of that system.

Look how much the Y2K bug cost, most of that was for consultants to tell you what could happen, not actually spent to fix any problem of real size.

IT Gnus/Politicians/Bankers....what's the difference?

Sorry ZH875, but you are (ahem) "misinformed"

The main reason there were so few problems is that a lot of people spent a lot of time preparing for it and mitigating it.

"The total cost of the work done in preparation for Y2K is estimated at over US$300 billion ($407 billion in 2014 US dollars).

IDC calculated that the U.S. spent an estimated $134 billion ($182 billion) preparing for Y2K, and another $13 billion ($18 billion) fixing problems in 2000 and 2001.

Worldwide, $308 billion ($418 billion) was estimated to have been spent on Y2K remediation."

:ugh:

(just wait until 2038 turns round!)

This one has been debated before in these parts sir.

In essence, you are wrong

1. How do you know no problem was fixed ? In the corporate and government world, what happens in IT tends to stay behind those four walls. You'll never know as a member of the general public.

2. As a result of the preventative measures outlined in (1) above, we'll never know how much damage was avoided.

Tell you what... :mad: off back to 1914 or whatever date of your choosing and then come back and tell us whether you still hold IT people in such low regard. I'll be more than happy to dispose of your credit cards, your car (because its full of various bits of IT), your television (since its probably a flat panel jobbie) plus all its modern accessories (dvd, blu-ray, games console), your mobile phone & computers (obviously) .... the list goes on, oh and you'll probably loose your job too since its either some sort of ground job involving a computer or you're a pilot in which case I'll swap your fancy modern aircraft for a stick and rudder job.

ZH875, watch your tongue. The geeks will inherit the earth :cool:

If you run a 64bit Windows OS, vulnerabilities are much less of a concern and so patches are not so urgent IMHO. Keeping your browser up to date is more important as that's a common attack vector.

Not a pilot as I preferred to fix rather than fly (probably don't have the co-ordination either) so ended up in IT in a Solaris job. never had a games console and the black and white CRT TV seems ok to me (They only show old films and repeats anyway.). As a non general public government employeeY2K was so overrated.

All the latest update now in place and all seems ok...SO FAR,

But what about the optional updates...hope important are they...does it mater if they are no downloaded.

You appear to overlook the point that updates appear, in reality, to be a continual source of problems.

Even the most reliable updater I have come across is quite capable of sending a message saying "Update now. It will only take a few minutes." and then leaving me sitting there for two hours wondering how it can take that long to update an anti-virus.

Things should not be that way, but out in the real world................