With just about every windows machine I've owned, it always seems to wait til I turn it off to update.
The forced-install behavior has been witnessed at least three times by Windows Secrets editors, but Microsoft says its procedure for Automatic Updates hasn't changed in the last 10 months.
The behavior seems to occur only if a Windows user has Automatic Updates configured to "download updates but don't install them" or "notify me but don't install them." If updates are scheduled to occur automatically, with no notice to users, the silent installation of updates would be expected.
Originally posted by burntheships
reply to post by Darthorious
Yes I will change my settings, just hate seeing the red x always.
Crickets!
But if this is one of those things like last year, even changing the settings wll not stop it. Last time this happened, microsoft installed anyways, I had it set not to download.
To view your Windows Update options in Windows XP, press the Windows key plus R to open the Run box, type control wuaucpl.cpl, and press Enter. In Vista, press the Windows key, type windows update, press Enter, and select Change settings on the left.windowssecrets.com...
According to the aforementioned blog post, the Microsoft Update Product Team considers Windows Update to be turned on when any setting is selected except the last one:
• Turn off Automatic Updates (in XP)
• Never check for updates (in Vista)
To shut off notifications about a particular update in Windows XP, take these steps:
• Step 1. Click the Windows Update icon in the taskbar tray to open the Automatic Updates control panel.
• Step 2. Select Custom Install (Advanced) and click Next.
• Step 3. Uncheck the items you don't want to install. Make a note of their Knowledge Base numbers in case you change your mind later. Then click Install (to install remaining items) or Close (if no items are checked).
• Step 4. When the Hide Updates prompt appears, check Don't notify me about these updates again and click OK.
• Step 5. If you later change your mind and want to install the items, surf on over to Microsoft's Download Center, enter the update's KB number in the Search box, and click Go. Follow the on-screen instructions to download and install the update.
To shut off notifications about a particular update in Windows Vista, take these steps:
• Step 1. Click the Windows Update icon in the taskbar tray to open the Windows Update control panel.
• Step 2. Choose View available updates below the Install Updates button.
• Step 3. Find the update you don't want installed and uncheck its box.
• Step 4. Right-click the update name and choose Hide update.
• Step 5. Click the close box in the upper-right corner to close the window.
• Step 6. To see this and other hidden updates in the future, reopen the Windows Update control panel and click Restore hidden updates in the left pane.

