What in the world has happened to Windows Update?

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Bart NEAL

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I've worked in Computer Support for years now, since the invention of the personal computer. I used to install Windows, and start Windows Update and I'd go take a smoke break. Not now. I just installed Windows 7 on a Dell notebook, set Windows update to let me know what updates were available, but let me decide when to download and install them. So.....first I start update and it searches for updates for over an hour. I think something has got to be wrong, so I shut the PC down and re-format and re-install Win7 again. The installation doesn't take long at all.


So, 2nd try at Windows Update with a fresh new installation. It took 3.5 hours just to tell me that there were 138 available updates. This was just to tell me what was available, nothing was downloaded or installed yet. Did I mention that I used to take a smoke break to do this? Now it's 3.5 hours! This is totally unacceptable. How am I supposed to bill someone for just sitting there bored for almost 4 hours doing absolutely nothing?


For years, I've charged people $50 to reinstall Windows and put their computer back to like new condition. It didn't take long, and required minimal work on my part, so it seemed fair. Now it's an all day job, and a long and frustrating day at that.

The reason I always set the computer to just tell me what's available and let me choose what to download and install is because Windows Update is stupid. It will list Internet Explorer 11 as one of the downloads, but before that, it wants to install all the security updates for Internet Explorer 8. Why waste time updating IE 8 when you are installing IE 11? Shouldn't the fact that it recommends installing IE 11 make installing all the patches for previous versions of IE a silly waste of time? Guess that's too much like common sense.


I swear, I have to find another line of work, I can't stand working on computers anymore. My internet connection consistently tests to between 20-30Mbps, yet I swear it seems as if I'm back to dial up speeds when I do a Windows Update.


No wonder MS always encourages you to have it automatically do Windows Update in the background, it's so you won't notice how painfully slow a process it is. Well....enough ranting. Now I have to actually download and install the updates that it took 3.5 hours to identify, and then I'll have to run it several more times......if I don't die of old age before it's done. I used to love computers, but now I hate them with a passion. And who do I have to thank for that?

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