Windows Automatic Updates
I have written many times about the importance of keeping your system up-to-date. Security patches and updates are coming out all the time, and they should be applied to your computer in a timely manner.
That being said, I am not a big fan of the Windows Automatic update feature. The idea is good, just turn it on, and your computer will automatically download and install updates. In practice, though, I see problems.
The reason that I do not like to let the automatic updates run on its own, is that you can not control what is being done. There are times that I do not want to apply a particular patch, because the patch has known problems. Another issue is rebooting your computer. The vast majority of times that Windows updates are installed, they require that the computer be rebooted. If the updates are being automatically installed, when they finish, your computer will be automatically rebooted, also. If you were working on a document, and have not saved it, then the reboot will wipe out what you have done.
What I prefer to do, is set Windows Updates to download, but not install, the updates, and then notify me. That way, I can determine when I want to install them, so that the almost inevitable reboot does not interfere with what I have going on. Also, I can be selective in which updates that I install, if I want to. Most times all updates get installed, but if for any reason I do not want to install a particular one, I have that option.
By using this approach, the scenario that it was working yesterday, and not today, tends to be avoided. I had that call just the other day, on a Windows 8 system. The update ran overnight, and one of the updates that automatically installed dropped support for the USB-to-serial adapter that they were using. So, in the morning they could not access the device attached to the adapter. They ended up getting a newer adapter to resolve it. If they were not allowing updates to be installed automatically, it would not have been a big mystery why it stopped working in the first place, though.
Contact CCS Retail Systems Support for all your support needs.
Dave.