Despite how useful automatic updates can be, they are not always the best solution for every situation. In some cases, manual updates are the safer option.
If you always go automatic, you also need to consider learning how to update drivers in Windows manually and disable automatic Windows update on your computer or laptop.
Of course, automatic updates on Windows has both sides – negative and positive. And in this article, we will talk about the pros and cons of Automatic Windows Updates. Is it helpful or not?
Windows Automatic Update
It is Microsoft’s sole responsibility to patch the vulnerabilities in its operating system. Only it can access the source code of the operating system. The security team at Microsoft is responsible for identifying and addressing the vulnerabilities in the operating system. This ensures that the affected users are notified immediately. As a result, Microsoft developed the Automatic Windows Update feature.
Windows Automatic Updates can be found on your computer’s control panel. But, this feature can be turned off, actually. When on, you can set it to notify you before downloading updates, after downloading Windows updates, or just download the update and install them on your specified schedule.
Pros of Automatic Updates
Windows Automatic Update is a great way to keep up with the latest security updates. If you have a few systems to maintain, or if you don’t believe that bandwidth consumption can be an issue, then automatic updates can serve as an excellent method to get updates. Sometimes, it can be advantageous to schedule the updates so they can be installed on a schedule. Also, it can be essential security fixes that can address your system vulnerabilities. However, you need to be careful not to get carried away with automated updates. Also, there are some disadvantages to this action.
Cons Of Automatic Windows Update
The main issue with automated systems is that they can easily lose track of all the changes that are happening in their systems without requiring the administrator’s intervention. For example, this issue was highlighted by the case of a security update that was automatically pushed to systems despite having a service pack level that wasn’t met by all of the systems.
The issue was due to incompatibility between the patch and a core DLL. This resulted in systems that would stop working after restarting. If the installation process was manually carried out, the administrator would have been alerted immediately about the necessary steps. What’s worse is that the updates were only installed a few days before the restarts, which prevented them from being associated with the errors in the administrator’s mind. It took a lot of time to diagnose the issue. If the update had been manually approved, the issue could have been fixed immediately.
Although automatic updates are great, it’s important to remember that they can also cause more harm than good. The following are the disadvantages of Automatic Windows Updates:
Automatic Windows Updates create a false sense of security
One of the biggest drawbacks of automatic windows updates is that they can create a false sense of security for your system. In a world where cyber threats are prevalent, this type of security is not ideal. Even the most up-to-date system can still get hacked. It’s not enough to rely on automatic updates to maintain system security.
Automatic Windows Updates aren’t compatible with automation
A lot of custom and/or proprietary installations require to be thoroughly tested before they can be installed on the network. Unfortunately, automatic windows updates can’t always be used to automatically update every software on your system. They can’t always update the system’s unique file types or firmware.
Automatic Windows Updates can hinder productivity
Finally, updates can take more time to download and install. This can possibly cause interruptions in your daily workflow. Since windows update is automatic, you can’t choose the time and date for updates to take place. So, when it automatically updates, even if you’re in the middle of your busy working hours, you have nothing to do but be patient.
Final Thoughts: Is Automatic Windows Update Helpful Or Not?
We’re not going to tell you that you should manually update all of your system’s components. What we will tell you is it’s important to strike the right balance between manual action and automation. The key is to take advantage of Automatic Windows Updates that will surely pose no risk to your system’s operation and workflow while utilizing manual actions when needed.
In fact, it is hard to say that one action is better than the other. Deciding whether Automatic Windows Update is better or not is completely based on your situation. Automatic Windows Update is suitable for certain scenarios, but for others, it’s smarter to go manual.
