Security

We’ve had tons of problems with Automatic Update patches so far this year. If you’ve followed along here, you’ve seen them roll out in real time. With Patch Tuesday coming tomorrow, now is an excellent time to make sure that you have Automatic Update turned off on all of your machines.

What kinds of problems? No patches at all in February, except a surprise late IE/Edge patch for Flash. In March, we got the Win10 patch that broke Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM 2011. In April, there were a host of problems, especially with the .Net patches. Then in June, we saw 16 bad Office security patches roll out of Automatic Update chute, and an IE patch that broke iFrame printing. Last month, Surface Pro 4 customers were treated to a rogue driver patch that broke Windows Hello.

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There’s no question that you need to keep your Windows machine patched. In this age of EternalBlue and Shadow Brokers, Wikileaks and the CIA, avoiding Windows security patches is like hanging a sign out on the internet that says, “Kick me.”

That said, there’s no reason for savvy Windows users to succumb to Microsoft’s patching pace. Windows Automatic Update is great — vital — for your sainted aunt Martha, who’s afraid that anything other than playing mahjong will break her computer. But Auto Update’s an unnecessary risk for people who know how to use Windows and who keep up to date on Windows developments. If you’re knowledgeable enough to be reading this, you should seriously consider taking Windows patching into your own hands.

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