What critical updates do I really, really need?

[Maureen Goldman]

New computer with XP. Went to Windows Update.

While the word "critical" should mean all, I wasn't expecting to see a
list of 22 critical updates and 14 XP updates when I went to WU. Also
hadn't realized what this would mean when items have to be deselected
individually in order to choose one. And some of these suckers are
little setup files which will lead to great big downloads.

I opted for the June cumulative update in the hope that some of the
others would disappear, but, nope. I only have a dial-up connection.
So... HELP!

[Sir_George]

Maureen,

All critical updates have a "Read More..." selection which identifies the
problem it will correct. I find that if the situation described in the "Read
More..." article does not fit my profile, then I don't install the update. A
good example is update #811493 which caused "system slowdown" on a large
number of machines. Visit the following site for more details;

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811493

Pay special attention to the information under Mitigating Factors and see if
you fit the profile. Personally, I use my (stand alone, no network) computer
for a home based business office and there is only one other employee, very
trusted, that has access to the system. Therefore, the circumstances that
would require this patch to protect me are nonexistent in my environment so
I choose not to install it.

If you chose to install "ALL" of the critical updates, I would strongly
advise you to wait for a week or so before installing to see if there are
any problem areas with them. Then, if problems are discovered, install the
update that fixes the update which will hopefully not need another update to
fix it.

IMHO: When it comes to updates, it is better to be a follower than a leader.

--
Sir_George
For better access to newsgroups;
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/newsgroups/setup.asp


"Maureen Goldman" > wrote in message
...
> New computer with XP. Went to Windows Update.
>
> While the word "critical" should mean all, I wasn't expecting to see a
> list of 22 critical updates and 14 XP updates when I went to WU. Also
> hadn't realized what this would mean when items have to be deselected
> individually in order to choose one. And some of these suckers are
> little setup files which will lead to great big downloads.
>
> I opted for the June cumulative update in the hope that some of the
> others would disappear, but, nope. I only have a dial-up connection.
> So... HELP!
>
>

[Maureen Goldman]

> "Sir_George" > wrote:
>All critical updates have a "Read More..." selection which identifies the
>problem it will correct. I find that if the situation described in the "Read
>More..." article does not fit my profile, then I don't install the update. A
>good example is update #811493 which caused "system slowdown" on a large
>number of machines. Visit the following site for more details;
>
>http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811493
>
>Pay special attention to the information under Mitigating Factors and see if
>you fit the profile. Personally, I use my (stand alone, no network) computer
>for a home based business office and there is only one other employee, very
>trusted, that has access to the system. Therefore, the circumstances that
>would require this patch to protect me are nonexistent in my environment so
>I choose not to install it.

Good advice, thanks. Do you (or anyone) know if there is a way to
remove from the WU list those critical updates that I opt not to take?
All I can find is an option not to take them right now, rather than
not at all, ever.

[Sir_George]

Maureen,

Quoted from the update site;

Any update that is critical to the operation of your computer is considered
a "Critical Update," and is automatically selected for installation during
the scan for available updates.

--
Sir_George
For better access to newsgroups;
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/newsgroups/setup.asp


"Maureen Goldman" > wrote in message
...
> > "Sir_George" > wrote:
> >All critical updates have a "Read More..." selection which identifies the
> >problem it will correct. I find that if the situation described in the
"Read
> >More..." article does not fit my profile, then I don't install the
update. A
> >good example is update #811493 which caused "system slowdown" on a large
> >number of machines. Visit the following site for more details;
> >
> >http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811493
> >
> >Pay special attention to the information under Mitigating Factors and see
if
> >you fit the profile. Personally, I use my (stand alone, no network)
computer
> >for a home based business office and there is only one other employee,
very
> >trusted, that has access to the system. Therefore, the circumstances that
> >would require this patch to protect me are nonexistent in my environment
so
> >I choose not to install it.
>
> Good advice, thanks. Do you (or anyone) know if there is a way to
> remove from the WU list those critical updates that I opt not to take?
> All I can find is an option not to take them right now, rather than
> not at all, ever.
>

[Maureen Goldman]

"Sir_George" > wrote:

>Maureen,
>
>Quoted from the update site;
>
>Any update that is critical to the operation of your computer is considered
>a "Critical Update," and is automatically selected for installation during
>the scan for available updates.

Sez them. But if I'm not on a network, and I've supposedly removed
Outlook Express, then it would be nice if those updates would stop
appearing.

[Lorne Smith]

"Maureen Goldman" > wrote in message
...
> "Sir_George" > wrote:
>
> >Maureen,
> >
> >Quoted from the update site;
> >
> >Any update that is critical to the operation of your computer is
considered
> >a "Critical Update," and is automatically selected for installation
during
> >the scan for available updates.
>
> Sez them. But if I'm not on a network, and I've supposedly removed
> Outlook Express, then it would be nice if those updates would stop
> appearing.
>
>

You cannot remove OE, it's too deeply embedded in the OS. The most you can
do is "hide" it.

If you look on the left panel of the WU site, there should be a Preferences
section (can't remember the title offhand). You should be able to deselect
updates in there to stop them being offered, though I'm not sure if you can
do this for the critical updates.

Lorne

[Sir_George]

Lorne,

The critical updates do not provide an option for hiding/removing them.
That's why I provided the MS quote from the update site;

(quote)
Any update that is critical to the operation of your computer is considered
a "Critical Update," and is automatically selected for installation during
the scan for available updates.
(end quote)

--
Sir_George
For better access to newsgroups;
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/newsgroups/setup.asp


"Lorne Smith" > wrote in message
...
> "Maureen Goldman" > wrote in message
> ...
> > "Sir_George" > wrote:
> >
> > >Maureen,
> > >
> > >Quoted from the update site;
> > >
> > >Any update that is critical to the operation of your computer is
> considered
> > >a "Critical Update," and is automatically selected for installation
> during
> > >the scan for available updates.
> >
> > Sez them. But if I'm not on a network, and I've supposedly removed
> > Outlook Express, then it would be nice if those updates would stop
> > appearing.
> >
> >
>
> You cannot remove OE, it's too deeply embedded in the OS. The most you
can
> do is "hide" it.
>
> If you look on the left panel of the WU site, there should be a
Preferences
> section (can't remember the title offhand). You should be able to
deselect
> updates in there to stop them being offered, though I'm not sure if you
can
> do this for the critical updates.
>
> Lorne
>
>
>

[Lorne Smith]

To be honest, I've only ever been in that section once about a year ago so I
wasn't certain. Thanks for the heads up :)

"Sir_George" > wrote in message
...
> Lorne,
>
> The critical updates do not provide an option for hiding/removing them.
> That's why I provided the MS quote from the update site;
>
> (quote)
> Any update that is critical to the operation of your computer is
considered
> a "Critical Update," and is automatically selected for installation during
> the scan for available updates.
> (end quote)
>
> --
> Sir_George
> For better access to newsgroups;
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/newsgroups/setup.asp
>
>
> "Lorne Smith" > wrote in message
> ...
> > "Maureen Goldman" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > "Sir_George" > wrote:
> > >
> > > >Maureen,
> > > >
> > > >Quoted from the update site;
> > > >
> > > >Any update that is critical to the operation of your computer is
> > considered
> > > >a "Critical Update," and is automatically selected for installation
> > during
> > > >the scan for available updates.
> > >
> > > Sez them. But if I'm not on a network, and I've supposedly removed
> > > Outlook Express, then it would be nice if those updates would stop
> > > appearing.
> > >
> > >
> >
> > You cannot remove OE, it's too deeply embedded in the OS. The most you
> can
> > do is "hide" it.
> >
> > If you look on the left panel of the WU site, there should be a
> Preferences
> > section (can't remember the title offhand). You should be able to
> deselect
> > updates in there to stop them being offered, though I'm not sure if you
> can
> > do this for the critical updates.
> >
> > Lorne
> >
> >
> >
>
>