KB 938464 Stealth Installed

I noticed yesterday that my computer had mysteriously restarted overnight. Figuring it had crashed due to a memory leak of something of that sort I didn't think much of it. But there was no BSOD on the Event Log. So I checked the Installed Programs in Control Panel and saw this:



Now I certainly didn't install that - I was sleeping! And I never had received a dialog box asking if I wanted to install any updates - I thought the little bubble in the taskbar ought to be showing up soon since updates are released most Tuesdays, but it had not shown up. This update installed entirely on its own.

You might say so what, automatic updates happen all the time. But the fact that it restarted without so much as a dialog box is a major problem. I was fortunate I didn't have any particularly important unsaved data open, as it closed all my programs without warning, which did cause some lost data. Even discounting the privacy concerns of Microsoft doing this, it's a problem. I don't think any update can be important enough to restart a consumer's computer without even asking their permission.

Has anyone else had this update stealth install itself? Needless to say I'm disappointed in Microsoft - I'd expect this behavior from a virus rather than Microsoft. I've submitted feedback on the update and disabled Automatic Updates in every way I could think of (probably slightly excessively, but better safe than sorry), as this kind of behavior from Microsoft could cause actual damage depending on what was running at the time of the restart.

 

Yes its been happening, more recently as the last week of August I think... happened for quiet a few people when M$ sent out those "stealth" updates for comp' worldwide, irrespective of whether u wanted it or not.. lol..

though I didn't lose anything as such.. sorry for you though.. thats why I always shut down my comp at night... lol..

 

Actually, there is a dialog box...it says the computer will reboot in 5 minutes unless told otherwise. And you have to click 'No' every 5 or 10 minutes to keep the computer on.

In other words, MS doesn't care one bit.

Yet another reason for me to turn automatic updates off. I'd prefer to be able to control my PC 100%, and this kind of happenstance is unacceptable to me when I have a system that regularly needs to stay on 24x7 with only planned downtime.

Obviously, you need to be a little more responsible for updating your system...but its better than just letting MS decide when to reboot your PC.

If this keeps up, I'll just find a way to firewall any/all update resources of MS's. Can't force updates down when you block them from getting in the first time. In all reality, if MS were to start doing this regularly I'm sure there would be a backlash.

 

Actually I have the option as check for updates n notify me kinds... not to install automatically... and I think its better... and for a while I also tried with download updates but let me install or something like that I think... anyways..

 

The first thing I do on ANY Windows PC is turn OFF Automatic Updates and disable the Security Center.

I do leave the Windows Firewall running.

 

And the FW is undoubtedly programmed to not block anything of MS's...just another suspect product.

3rd party FW...that should be obvious.

 

i totally understand... no matter how much CPU i have,, i didn't buy it to enable MS to run all these extra, un-needed background processes that i can manage perfectly fine myself....

very true Greg,,, the way i see it is if someone wants in my system bad enough to hack thru a DSL modem's hardware firewall, then thru the SPI firewall of my WIFI router,,, then MS's crappy little firewall is no protection... so i use the firewall bundled with my DSL account thru AT&T

 

This case is just another reason why I always disable automatic updates when I do a clean windows installation. The way I see it MS only really releases updates once a month on the so called patch Tuesday, so why do I need to have windows update checking "behind my back" constantly for updates...

 

My XP desktop is set to download updates but to NOTIFY me when I want to install them. My Vista laptop has automatic updates completely off, I manually check for updates and install them.

 

I understand that, but I'm also running a firewall on my router. I don't run any security apps on my system and I've never had a problem. I'm not paranoid about it, all it takes is a little bit of internet smarts and you will be safer than even if you had the best security software.

 

hey why not set it to notify you first b4 downloading?

 

Why? If I have it downloaded already and I want to install it, I don't have to wait for it to download...

 

I just have it set to automatically download and install.

Why? Cause i'm so forgetful, I'd happen to remember to check one day and end up having to install 15 updates It's just one less thing for me to worry about...

 

ohh.coz for me i usually will have something that i dun need...and i dunno where all these download files are situated. so saving bandwidth and disk space is the reason i get my OS to notify me prior to downloading them

 

Makes sense to me.

I happened to be up early Wed. morning when I noticed it was ready to install updates. I let it but, switched to auto download and notify me when to install in the future.

 

I check for updates occasionally but not on a set schedule.