Most Windows users update their systems using Windows Update. Its nice and easy and does it automatically, sometimes. That is great. But… there is one thing I dislike about updating, and that is restarting my computer. I dislike restarting, or even shutting down my computer. I prefer to hibernate at night so it is using no power and I can just resume where I was when I left it.

Generally Windows Update give me the option to postpone restarting the computer, which I do. I also select it to remind me again in 4 hours, the maximum time it allows. I do not get why there is a low limit of 4 hours to remind me. Why can’t there be the option to remind me in 6, 12 or even 24. More conveniently, how about the option NEVER reminding me that Windows needs to restart to finish installing updates. Does it think I will forget to restart? Does it think I don’t notice the little Windows Update icon in the taskbar? I think it not giving me enough credit there.

But wait, there’s more! After about 12 hours without being restarted, it now also counts down when it’s going to restart automatically. Okay, this is a useful feature for some people, getting the computer to restart when they are not using it. You are given the option to postpone it more if you are there, but that’s the problem. Sometimes I live the computer for more than 5 minutes for various reasons, some people leave it on so it can do other tasks (for example Virus Scans and Legal Torrenting) while they are not using the computer. A restart at this time is annoying and kills what we are doing.

I should be telling the computer what to do and what not to do. I am the boss of it, I am its controller, I am its master. It shouldn’t tell me what it feels like doing and doing it without me giving the command. I don’t care if its something as basic as restarting but if computers can do that without user prompt, imagine if it decided to format the C: drive, now that would be a problem. I know, I’m being over-dramatic, but who knows what computer are going to do next, we are living in the matrix!