Updated to death!

[rwest]

Is it me, or are updates just geting out of hand.

My goodnes; by the time you get: the servive packs, java, an anti-virus program, spyware blocker, almost any current software... the updates are killing PCs.

My's sons dual core system is fully updated and almost slow. I wiped it clean just recently, its not infected. It's a 2.7gig Athlon64 X2 with 4gigs of memory running XP/ sp3.

I'm just amazed at updates today. My system(in my sig) just took a few more updates from MSE and a few other programs and I can tell the difference. My wifes Sempron(of course its not much to start) is dead in the water. Oh oit 's running but I pull my hair out waiting for it to do anything.

I had to wait for for a frickn' video to play! I know I don't have a top-notch performer or nuttin, but it's not a dog!

[Petef56]

Originally Posted by rwest Is it me, or are updates just geting out of hand. My goodnes; by the time you get: the servive packs, java, an anti-virus program, spyware blocker, almost any current software... the updates are killing PCs.

I'm with you 100% on this constant updating issue. It's become outrageous!
The amount of time we spend performing updates indicates to me a system so poorly designed that it's literally impossible for the average novice user to maintain it and keep it secure. Especially since so many of the MS Updates fail and require expert knowledge to get them to install successfully.

I think it would be wiser to get rid of all the elaborate features in the Windows OS (by default) that make it vulnerable to malware. It would also be wise for websites to avoid the use of JAVA or other non-secure technologies. Email should go back to being TEXT only with no ability (by default) for HTML execution.

In other words, by default, the OS and common website design, SECURITY should be the number one priority, eliminating the need for all these constant updates. This means a large backwards step eliminating all the elaborate features that make the system vulnerable to malware and other problems.

On the other hand, for expert users that want or need all the fancy and elaborate features and controls, allow them the freedom to change the default settings to gain access to those features which would also require all those constant and annoying updates just to keep the system secure and trouble free.

PS: My experience (with many older and newer computers of my customers) is not so much that it's killing the performance of the computers, but rather the time and expertise required related to all the updates.

---pete---

[oryx]

I have turned off all automatic checks for updates except the OS, antivirus and malware. I only update the other things when there is a problem. My system has 25 items that it thinks need to run at boot time. I have 20 of them turned off. A lot of these, not all, check for updates.

[jdeb]

That is why I love Linux. It updates frequently but rarely needs to restarted as a result. It also is not done automatically. Additionally, a full description of what the updates are for are a nice feature as well. It seems almost every Windows update requires a restart. Another thing, Windows updates occasionally breaks things as well, so it is best to keep it automatic.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by rwest Is it me, or are updates just geting out of hand. My goodnes; by the time you get: the servive packs, java, an anti-virus program, spyware blocker, almost any current software... the updates are killing PCs. My's sons dual core system is fully updated and almost slow. I wiped it clean just recently, its not infected. It's a 2.7gig Athlon64 X2 with 4gigs of memory running XP/ sp3. I'm just amazed at updates today. My system(in my sig) just took a few more updates from MSE and a few other programs and I can tell the difference. My wifes Sempron(of course its not much to start) is dead in the water. Oh oit 's running but I pull my hair out waiting for it to do anything. I had to wait for for a frickn' video to play! I know I don't have a top-notch performer or nuttin, but it's not a dog!

Make sure you run CCleaner, the cleaner and registry tabs are a must. Defraggler works well. I can say that if it were not for CCleaner, many XP machines would be crippled.

For kicks...Load a live cd of Mint LXDE and you will be shocked how fast it is.
The Linux Mint Blog » Blog Archive » Linux Mint 10 LXDE released!

[Bob338]

Funny how the OS differs. Just last night I had a major problem on an XP machine that has slowed down noticeably. I couldn't download a program which intensely utilizes Java. The machine is slow anyway, in spite of constant cleaning and defragging, but I had to remove the earlier and supposedly updated edition of Java, and reinstall Java 6. This in spite of the constant updates. No problems on the main machine in my sig which I only update specifically and periodically in order to avoid the restarts.

I'm on your side on this.

[juppy]

If you think updating is getting out of hand, you should try having to do it like me.....on a 21k dialup connection. What annoys me the most is the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. Some months it comes out and it's only like 1 or 2 Meg....then every so often it turns out to be a 9 Meg download! In case you're wondering, on my dialup, that takes over an hour just for that alone (I get around 7 MB per hour). Just a few months ago, the Windows Update was a total of 19 MB. I just started it updating and came back like 3 hours later to see how it was doing.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by juppy If you think updating is getting out of hand, you should try having to do it like me.....on a 21k dialup connection. What annoys me the most is the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. Some months it comes out and it's only like 1 or 2 Meg....then every so often it turns out to be a 9 Meg download! In case you're wondering, on my dialup, that takes over an hour just for that alone (I get around 7 MB per hour). Just a few months ago, the Windows Update was a total of 19 MB. I just started it updating and came back like 3 hours later to see how it was doing.

I can only remember those days. I live on a street that has cable Internet but the majority of the people where I live now are still on dial up. I should start as new business, PC Updater.

[juppy]

Originally Posted by jdeb I can only remember those days. I live on a street that has cable Internet but the majority of the people where I live now are still on dial up. I should start as new business, PC Updater.

Heheh....that may be a job in high demand with people like me! Nah, if it's under 20 MB or so, I'll just let my own computer chug along and eventually get it downloaded, but if it's very big, I *could* give a link to my brother and he could DL it at his job, or my neighbor has told me I could come up to her place and use her computer (yeah, she has DSL but they won't run it to me ).

[David M]

There may be a secondary motive to all the updates. They want to know who is out there and who is active and who is actually using their product. It may relate to marketing their products or keeping their user databases current in order to sell the data. A current database of users has more value to marketers.

[rwest]

Originally Posted by David M There may be a secondary motive to all the updates.

I was wondering about that. I just didn't have the perspective to get there.