WindowsXP SP2 danger! *geek topic*

[growler_south]

To my delight I came to work this morning and found my PC at the login screen. Bugger, I thought, must have been a power failure, I wonder how far the render got before it died?

Login and Windows' new 'security centre' cheerily informs me that "new updates were installed and your computer was restarted"

WHAT?!?!

The old Automatic Updater would install updates, but then sit there waiting for you to confirm the restart. Now Windows thinks its ok to just shut down your PC any old time it likes, regardless of what processes are running at the time. Does XP Server have this 'feature'?

And no, I cant use a Mac, I like getting a new PC every 6 months.

UPDATE/CLARIFICATION:

After much argument here at work: Yes, I know you can turn it off (or to 'download updates but ask before installing') that isnt my problem. My problem is that they changed the default behaviour. I have ALWAYS had auto update set to 'install automatically' and, pre SP2, it never rebooted without asking. Now it does. And now I have to go and change the settings on a number of computers to 'Download and prompt for installation' and educate the users to click 'ok' instead of 'close' when prompted.

How about a "dont restart my fucking machine without asking first" option? Registry hack, anyone?

Comments

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

This is part of why I haven't installed SP2 on anything. From where I stand, I have better security by just not using Internet Exploiter or Outreek. ;)

[growler-south.livejournal.com]

This is the first problem I've had with SP2, and its just a default behaviour change, so Im not too upset...

[cpratt.livejournal.com]

Not a good idea; without SP2, you are vulnerable to exploits that may occur even if you're using Firefox or what have you.

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

Well -- at work, there are only two machines that run XP. At home, the machine running XP is my media box and I don't feel like missing something because of some screwup with all their network security changes.

The only "feature" of SP2 that is at all relevant to my usage is the buffer overflow patch. Given the potential hassles from the rest of it, I'll take my chances in that regard.