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Microsoft is Making It Easy To Stop Windows 10 Rebooting Your PC Randomly For Updates (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on from the about-time dept.

Tom Warren, writing for The Verge: Microsoft is unveiling some changes to the way Windows Updates are applied to Windows 10 PCs with the upcoming Creators Update. The software giant has long been criticized by Windows 10 users for its aggressive approach to applying updates, and it's introducing some new options to prevent annoying reboots. "What we heard back most explicitly was that you want more control over when Windows 10 installs updates," admits John Cable, Microsoft's Windows director of program management. "We also heard that unexpected reboots are disruptive if they happen at the wrong time." To stop these random reboots, Microsoft is adding a new snooze option that appears in a new prompt to let you know there's a Windows 10 update available. Snooze will stop an update installing for three days, and give you time to save any crucial work.

40 of 249 comments (clear)

  1. I'd rather they put more money into bug fixing by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 4, Informative

    More testing before rolling out upgrades would be nice. I've had one "unable to complete" for a few weeks now. Reboots the system, discovers the install doesn't fit the hardware, rolls back. Whole process takes about 30 minutes.

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    1. Re:I'd rather they put more money into bug fixing by Namarrgon · · Score: 2

      Had a good one myself. Forced a reboot, spent 90 mins s..l..o..w..l..y installing the update, got to 94% then failed something and spent another 90 mins unrolling everything again - unusable for 3 hours. Repeat the next day, and the next. Clearing update caches, scouring logs for error codes, googling all the things, tearing hair - nothing helped, until I eventually found something that hinted at the actual cause: my EFI partition apparently wasn't quite big enough.

      --
      Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
  2. Only MS by DakotaSmith · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "What we heard back most explicitly was that you want more control over when Windows 10 installs updates," admits John Cable, Microsoft's Windows director of program management. "We also heard that unexpected reboots are disruptive if they happen at the wrong time."

    Only Microsoft would think that people don't want control of updates, or that unexpected reboots aren't disruptive.

    I've been in IT 39 years. Only an idiot doesn't know those two things.

    --
    Microsoft leads to Bluescreen; Bluescreen leads to downtime; downtime leads to suffering.
    1. Re:Only MS by gtall · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Of course they knew it, but they figured the longer they could get away with the forced updates, the better off they were at stemming any disruption to their business model. It is all about monetization of the "user experience". You are nothing more than a fat, information bloated meat sack waiting to sucked dry the MS Mosquito.

    2. Re:Only MS by UnknowingFool · · Score: 3, Informative

      Oh they know. They haven't cared so far with Windows 10. Especially since some of those who got Windows 10 as a free update, they're not paying customers. Windows 10 was never the product. The user data was the product.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    3. Re:Only MS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And yet they try to pass off the spyware as though it were a tool for feedback and not data harvesting. Too bad feedback only works if they listen to it.

      I also have a problem with doing their job for them. I don't want to buy Windows 10 (or buy a version of Windows that got upgraded to 10, same thing), and submit any data to them, even if it's to make their lives easier and to fix bugs. If they want that data, they can rehire their QA team or they can PAY me for it. I won't work for them for free.

    4. Re:Only MS by phantomfive · · Score: 2

      I kind of thought that this was fixed back in 2002. Even this new fix looks like a regression from back then.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    5. Re:Only MS by QuesarVII · · Score: 2

      Fuck, if I were in charge after the 3rd snooze was up a big middle finger would fill the screen and say "Fuck you, you lazy piece of fucking shit. This is a message from Bill fucking Gates: Get a fucking ipad and use gmail you sorry excuse for a human being." and the computer would lock itself until updates were completed.

      And what about long running software? If someone is running a simulation that takes 2 weeks, do you think it's acceptable to reboot the computer on them forcefully after 13 days?

    6. Re:Only MS by wireloose · · Score: 4, Informative

      "What we heard back most explicitly was that you want more control over when Windows 10 installs updates," admits John Cable, Microsoft's Windows director of program management. "We also heard that unexpected reboots are disruptive if they happen at the wrong time."

      Made me laugh aloud. People wanting their computers to work when they are using them, rather than having their o/s rebooting unexpectedly? Microsoft has known this since the earliest days of MS-DOS and refused to listen. Now they act like it's news, 36 years after the first complaints.

    7. Re:Only MS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The absolute worst aren't even the reboots in my experience - it's when you need to run out the door, go to shut down your laptop so you can slam the lid, toss it in a bag and go... and you get the dreaded "don't you dare touch this laptop for the next 5 minutes to 8 hours, important updates you can't control have started. Do you (a) hang around for an indeterminant amount of time waiting for the 5 minute... no, 1 hour... no, 30 seconds... no, 2 weeks... no... updates to grind away and miss your meeting/flight/dinner; or do you slam the lid anyway and run the very real risk of screwing up the OS.

    8. Re:Only MS by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Only Microsoft would think that people don't want control of updates, or that unexpected reboots aren't disruptive.

      I've learned to expect the highest level of unawareness from Microsoft, even on regarding the most obvious topics. Sometimes I think they say things like this just to gauge the level of outrage and "WTF?" that follows.

      It's almost as if none of them use a computer, at least not one running Windows. They sound genuinely baffled that an unexpected reboot would be cause for concern. It's mind-boggling.

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    9. Re:Only MS by Alumoi · · Score: 2

      Of course it's acceptable. It's Microsoft's OS and they can do whatever the fuck they want with it. Don't like it? Don't use it.

  3. What about Russian Shutdown Roulette? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 5, Informative

    It would be nice to have a notification on the shutdown menu stating how many updates are about to be installed before you shut down or restart, to avoid the computer unexpectedly becoming temporarily both useless and unable to shut down while it's installing updates. This is a major problem for computers that aren't used often and have to shut down or start up in a hurry...like dedicated presentation laptops.

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    1. Re:What about Russian Shutdown Roulette? by omnichad · · Score: 2

      Isn't it always one update? Or does that not apply to Windows 10?

      That one update may take 30 minutes to install on a Core i7 with an SSD, but it's still only one update. And twice a year, the "one" monthly update is a completely new OS image.

    2. Re:What about Russian Shutdown Roulette? by RightwingNutjob · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Which is why serious work doesn't get done on Windows. The corollary to an above comment that "only an idiot doesn't understand that uncommanded reboots are disruptive" is the statement that only an idiot would bring along a system to do a big presentation that is subject to frequent uncommanded reboots and brick periods.

      I do all of my presentations on Linux machines and I set all of my machines to either disable auto filesystem checks on boot entirely or at least have the boot set up so I can CTRL-C out of it if needed. Why? Because my schedule gets set by me, not by some geek in another timezone who thinks he knows better than his lusers.

    3. Re:What about Russian Shutdown Roulette? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 3, Funny

      Must be nice to not have to deal with average Joe users at all...they see an interface that looks a little different from the Windows they're used to, and they're paralyzed. Putting an unfamiliar operating system on a computer they have to use would literally be at least as disruptive as changing Windows' UI language to Japanese.

      Can't remember the last time I used a distro that didn't let you Ctrl-C out of fsck on boot by default. All I have to watch out for on Linux is update-apt-xapian-index on older computers, where it amounts to a surprise CPU and HDD stress test.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    4. Re:What about Russian Shutdown Roulette? by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Which is why serious work doesn't get done on Windows.

      Hahahahah. Post like this is the reason the entire community isn't taken seriously.

      Seriously.

  4. Stop changing what isn't broken MS. by Kitano123 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How about you just restore the exact customization options that are in previous versions of windows because that's what I want.

    1. Re:Stop changing what isn't broken MS. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If Windows updates are supposed to keep you safe, then explain why there is currently a serious SMB vulnerability being exploited in the wild, that was made public in February 2 (but reported to Microsoft in December, IIRC) that STILL hasn't been fixed.

      They are just prioritizing, right? Some things are more important, right? Better to ship late than to release something that doesn't work right?

      That must be why an OH SO IMPORTANT update that fucks with their webcam API - that had been working since the middle ages - just HAD TO ship in its incomplete form and proceed to - surprise - fuck with their webcam API, making it impossible to your a webcam (unless it was a blessed one, apparently).

      It is because of things like this that I keep the updates OFF.

  5. Nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sorry, not good enough. I want to be able to fully control when or if my system receives updates, which specific updates it gets and when or if my system reboots. A delayed forced reboot is still a forced reboot. I only apply updates that fix a problem that I am having and 99% of all Windows update have exactly zero benefit to me. I also have some work projects where I need my computer to operate 24/7 for an indeterminate number of days or weeks.

    The spyware, adware and reverting configurations needs to end too.

    1. Re: Nope by technosaurus · · Score: 2

      I resorted to disabling svchost.exe from accessing the network. Now I just restore access when I want to update. It probably cuts off other MS services too, but none that I use or want.

  6. Today's Windows 10 update workaround by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 4, Informative

    1) Use a wireless connection
    2) Lie to the OS and tell it it's a "metered" connection
    3) Tell the update manager to not download uploads over metered connections

    I remember I put this into place when I just wanted to hop on my Windows 10 gaming desktop and play some FPS before bed. If Windows updates were active, they'd stupidly try to download at the same time, which would also excite the AV components, and cause lag enough to get me killed over and over again.

    1. Re:Today's Windows 10 update workaround by sexconker · · Score: 2

      I just wanted to hop on my Windows 10 gaming desktop and play some FPS before bed. If Windows updates were active, they'd stupidly try to download at the same time, which would also excite the AV components, and cause lag enough to get me killed over and over again.

      Sounds like you need to git gud.

  7. Re:Uhh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Windows Operating System was actually designed for frogs.
    "Reboot!" "Reboot!" "Reboot!" "Reboot!" ...

  8. Don't fucking reboot by iamacat · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you are going to insist on automatic updates, ensure that they can be applied to a running system, up to hotswapping parts of the kernel. Or just back off. My system is not a toy and is certainly not your toy. You don't get to decide if I get interrupted either today or 3 days later,

    1. Re:Don't fucking reboot by StormReaver · · Score: 2

      You don't get to decide if I get interrupted either today or 3 days later....

      Since you're still using Windows after all these years of Microsoft doing those very things, you have informed Microsoft over the years that it does indeed get to decide if you get interrupted either today or 3 days later. You have indicated that you will accept it, you will like it, and you will always come back asking for more abuse.

      Microsoft knows that you are its slaughter sheep, and it will continue treating you as such until you stand up for yourself and switch to something else. Otherwise, you are just pissing into the wind and getting colored yellow.

  9. Wheres the delay indefinitely option by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Oh it exisits, it's called Windows 7, which market share increased this month. Even Windows XP is still at 8% market share three years after end of support. This all shows the failure of Microsoft.

  10. Microsoft really know their stuff! by admin7087 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "We also heard that unexpected reboots are disruptive if they happen at the wrong time."

    Who would have thought that?

    Now they just have to figure out how to disable all telemetry in Windows 10, and I might even start to use it!

  11. Not good enough! by prunus.avium · · Score: 2

    Give me control as to when to download the update.

    I have a metered connection that is unlimited between 2:00am and 6:00am. Let me schedule the download so I don't burn through my available bandwidth with OS updates!

    And don't hog my bandwidth when I'm actively using the computer!

    Installing and reboots are the least of my concerns.

    1. Re:Not good enough! by neilo_1701D · · Score: 3, Informative

      That's easy. Schedule a task to start and stop the windows update service.

      Don't forget BITS. WUService might do the checking, bit it's BITS that actually moves the data.

  12. The real question is... by evolutionary · · Score: 2

    Why on earth would anyone in their right mind allow a system to "randomly" reboot in the first place...

    --
    "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
    1. Re:The real question is... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 2

      Because they hate humanity and want it to suffer.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  13. Obligatory by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Obligatory "Are they not merciful?" post.

    Wow, Microsoft is letting ME have a little more control of MY computer.

    My Benevolence-O-Meter may not be able to withstand such punishment.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  14. Re:Uhh by Z00L00K · · Score: 4, Interesting

    And what would happen if the Snooze button is hidden by some other service or if it disrupts another service at an unexpected moment? How many of us has been accidentally selecting "OK" on something just because we were typing some text in a word processing or something and don't know what we did click "OK" for?

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  15. Fire this guy just for being a putz by hyades1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    John Cable, Microsoft's Windows director of program management: "We also heard that unexpected reboots are disruptive if they happen at the wrong time."

    I'll guess I'll be sending in my application for a top job at Microsoft. I don't know jack shit about programming, but clearly that's not a requirement for pulling down top dollar in a position that is ALL ABOUT EFFING COMPUTER PROGRAMS.

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
  16. Re:Not good for the enterprise... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

    I have a problem with MS deciding when and how my machine updates.

    Tell that to the user who believes that their employer-provided workstation belongs to them, them alone and no one else. They don't like being reminded that their employer could easily replace their workstation with a box of crayons and still expect them to get the job done with that.

  17. Re:Uhh by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Funny

    The Windows Operating System was actually designed for frogs. "Reboot!" "Reboot!" "Reboot!" "Reboot!" ...

    That explains things. I put my PC in a pot of water, slowly raised it to a boil and my PC never jumped out.

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  18. Re:Uhh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And what would happen if the Snooze button is hidden by some other service or if it disrupts another service at an unexpected moment?

    More worrisome: you forgot you had a 3-day delayed update pending and get an unexpected delayed update in teh middle of something else important. A longer delay doesn't solve the problem.

  19. Translation by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well, fuck. Even the shills we have hired at various Microsoft-praise-sites are now bashing us for rebooting their machines at random. So we decided to tone it back a notch, hoping that this will appease enough people to the level where they're probably pissed at us for rebooting their machines but not enough to actually consider switching to a system where they got control.

    Let's see whether that's enough to make them shut up.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  20. 3D Printing Fail by adjustinthings · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I was 3d printing an very large object on my printer and the print time was 21 hours. I was checking on it all day (its really fun to watch) and then finally after it was printing for 18 hours I walk back in to the room and see my printer sitting there motionless and my computer had an 'updates were installed' message waiting for me. THANKS WINDOWS 10, that was super important.