Hello
When I had win 98se, my pc ran with no trouble until I downloaded critical updates from ms.
Now I see I have three buttons on win xp; do you have an opinion as to which should be checked?
Thank you
Peter

 

which buttons do you mean?

 

Right click my computer,system properties and there are three choices re: downloads from windows.

 

I think you are describing the settings for 'automatic updates' the options are whether you waqnt windows to notify you before updating and installin or not or when you want windows to auto update. It's your choice. The updater will be runing in the background personally I dont have auto update checked and do it manually twice a week asI dont loke too many things running in background using resources.

 

Are you saying the program is running in the background regardless of the choice we make?
Pete

 

if the box beside"keep my computer up to date......" is checked, yes, there will be a process running always that will check microsoft for available updates .

 

Thanx, I think I'll unheck all.
Pete

 

I use "Download and let me know before you install" (or whatever it's called) - the one in the middle. Here's why, first of all, there are important Security Updates that should be downloaded ASAP - I like to at least be informed about the updates, I'm not always good about getting them myself. But, the reason I don't let Windows install automatically, is that Windows does enough on it's own, I don't need it automating anything else for me - especially installing software, I prefer to install it when I'm ready.

If you're on a dial-up, it may be a good idea to check the first option "Automatically check and notify me before downloading or installing" - that way it's not sucking up your bandwidth downloading updates for you. I'm on broadband, so downloading is not a problem - but for someone with low bandwidth, it could be a problem.

Doing some research on Windows Auto Update, I found that the actual program that checks the updates is "wuauclt.exe" - I don't see this particular program in my Processes tab, so I'm not sure that it stays running in the background - it may just be scheduled to run at certain intervals. Either way, it's not a big enough footprint on memory to worry about. I don't think the small amount of memory used compares to the fact that it warns you immediately of serious updates.

Good luck!

Note: even if you have enabled full automatic updating, Windows XP may only install critical updates. It's a good idea to check with Windows Update manually to make sure the updates you want are installed.

 

Thank you safewatch, that sounds reasonable.
Pete