How to make Windows updates less annoying, in three easy steps
3 weeks ago
Want to eliminate unpleasant update surprises? You can force Windows to follow your update schedule. Here’s how.
…
John C Magee/Getty Images
One complaint about Windows is near the top of everyone’s list: updates. There are too many updates. They take too long to install. They sometimes fail in ways that cause additional problems. And they always pop up at the most inopportune time.
In most cases, these updates require the computer to be restarted, which happens automatically. You might lose unsaved work or find yourself doing a slow burn as you wait for the update to finish and give you back your PC, so you can join an early-morning Zoom meeting that you’re already late for.
It doesn’t have to be that way, though. I recommend you set your own update schedule and tell Microsoft to back off until your preferred day. To get started, ensure you’ve installed all available updates (and restarted your computer, if necessary). Then, do the following steps.
In the calendar app you use, set up a recurring monthly event for the fourth Tuesday of each month. The illustration (below) shows what this event looks like in Google Calendar.
Save that reminder and get back to work, comfortable that you’re not going to be bothered until the fourth Tuesday of the month. When that day comes around and you see the reminder, you’re going to quickly check for any known issues with the latest updates. Then wait for a convenient time that day, or at most a day or two later, and perform that month’s maintenance tasks.
Go to Settings > Windows Update, click “Resume updates”, and install all available updates. Restart your computer and then check Windows Update one more time to ensure that there aren’t any stray updates waiting to be installed. After that process is complete, use the “Pause updates for 5 weeks” menu option to start the countdown clock again.
Use your preferred calendar service to create a repeating reminder to do update tasks.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
Your only responsibility each month is to pay attention when that reminder fires and promptly take care of pending updates. You can hit the snooze button once or twice, but don’t wait too long.
If you’re working with a device running Windows Pro edition, and you’re comfortable messing with Group Policy settings, you can set things up so those monthly quality updates are automatically deferred. But that approach isn’t necessary and the monthly calendar reminder is all you really need.
And one final setting is worth adjusting, to ensure that you get fair warning before an update is scheduled to restart, as shown in the illustration below. Go to Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options, and then turn on the “Notify me when a restart is required to finish updating” switch, as shown below.
