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• Option 1. Automatically download and install updates;
  
• Option 2. Download updates but prompt for review before installing them;
  
• Option 3. Check for updates but prompt before downloading or installing them;
  
• Option 4. Turn off Automatic Updates.
  

• Step 1: Disable Automatic Updates. In XP, open the Automatic Updates Control Panel applet and select Turn off Automatic Updates. In Vista, open the Windows Update Control Panel applet, choose Change settings in the left pane, and select Never check for updates (not recommended).
  
  
• Step 2: Turn off the red warning. Open the Security Center Control Panel applet, click Change the way Security Center alerts me, and choose Don't notify me and don't display the icon (not recommended).
  
  
• Step 3: Check for updates manually. Run Microsoft Update or an independent update service at least once a month (preferably just after reading the analysis that Windows Secrets publishes two days after every Patch Tuesday). Third-party update tools such as the Secunia Personal Software Inspector and the Shavlik Google Patch Gadget can identify critical updates that both Windows and your major applications require.
  

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• "So far, I've not been able to replicate this issue. However, I have been receiving reports of these stealth updates for a while now."
  

• "On the evening of June 10, the Dallas/Fort Worth area was hammered by severe storms, with high winds and intense lightning that knocked out power to over 500,000 homes in the area. Unfortunately, our home was among those to lose power, where I have a Windows XP PC and a Mac mini computer in a home office....
  
  "The computers were now running on a limited-time battery backup unit, which normally allows adequate time for normal shutdown of the Mac and Windows PC computers. I proceeded to shut down the Mac and the XP PC, where I had been watching the weather radar and news reports. On the Mac, I selected a forced shutdown, and within seconds the Mac was ready to be unplugged. But the Windows PC turned out to be a much different experience!
  
  "I next moved on to the PC and selected the Turn Off Computer option on the menu bar. Much to my horror, the Turn Off Computer window showed the Install Updates icon over the red Turn off button. I thought, 'How could this be happening?' since I had previously set Automatic Updates to download updates for me but let me choose when to install them.
  
  "With the power to the house out and the computer running on a battery backup, it's not the time for Windows to spend the next several minutes casually installing updates without asking! After nervously waiting about a minute — and with no end in sight for the uninvited Windows update — I reached around to the PC's power switch, turned it off (update still in progress), and unplugged the machine....
  
  "Microsoft won no points with me the night the severe storms rolled in, and they chose to usurp my control of my computer at the worst possible time! I feel fortunate that the Registry didn't crash....
  
  "Perhaps it's well past time Redmond respects who owns the computers they commandeer and who is in the best position to know when updates can safely be applied!"
  

• "My customers run the D3 database by Tiger Logic. It runs as a system service, with access to it via ODBC or Telnet.
  
  "I have been forced to set all of their machines to 'Download updates but let me choose when to install them' because Windows does not do a clean shutdown if a reboot is required when updates are automatically installed. On a normal shutdown, the database will wrap up its processes and ports and shut down cleanly; then Windows shuts down....
  
  "Probably half a dozen times a year (I support about 60 servers coast-to-coast in both the U.S. and Canada), a customer will have a problem on Wednesday morning where the machine has installed updates and then automatically rebooted. When I check the settings, yup, that machine now reads 'Install updates automatically.'
  
  "I can guarantee that none of my customers has the technical skill or know-how to reset the setting, and neither I nor my staff ever would. It was not forgotten at machine install, for the simple reason that we always do it; more importantly, it may be a machine that is several years old. I have had a couple of instances where the same machine has reset itself two or three times over the course of a couple of years.
  
  "I have been totally unable to find a pattern. In general, I patch all machines regularly. It doesn't seem to matter whether it's XP or 2003 — the database runs under either, and if the network has fewer than 10 users, XP is more than adequate. The only guess I've had in a couple of cases is that the updates hadn't been done for several months, but that doesn't hold true for every instance, either."
  

• "I run a computer shop in Oregon, and I choose the option 'Notify me but don't automatically download or install them' for my personal and shop computers and most clients. I've seen Microsoft updates being installed at shutdown on several computers the last two weeks. I've double-checked those computers to make sure the appropriate option had been chosen for updates, and indeed it had been set to my standard mentioned above. Ticks me off royally."
  

• "After reading your article about forced updates, I checked my settings, because I noticed an auto-install the other day at shutdown. I always keep the setting at 'download but don't install.' When I checked just now, it was set to 'download and install automatically.' I use XP. Can a malware program change the setting and mimic a true MS update? I changed the setting back to my preference."
  

• "I also had a problem with a 'stealth update' from Microsoft. I had my update settings to notify me of updates but to let me decide what and when to download. On June 17, my computer suddenly wasn't able to see my Maxtor One Touch backup drive, either in Windows Explorer, Device Manager, Drive Management Console, or Maxtor Manager. A request for help from Seagate/Maxtor merely suggested that I try the drive on another computer.
  
  "I suspected some kind of update interference, checked in Add/Remove Programs, and found that a number of updates had occurred during the night without my knowledge. First, I tried uninstalling, rebooting, and then reinstalling the Maxtor installation programs, to no avail.
  
  "I studied each of the updates listed in Add/Remove Programs on the Internet, then removed update 970238, which is supposed to fix a vulnerability in Remote Procedure Call. After removing that particular Windows patch, I followed the steps that I had received previously from Maxtor to fix a similar problem with the drive not being recognized by Windows.... Now my drive is again visible within Windows, Device Manager, Disk Management Utility, and Maxtor Manager....
  
  "If I hadn't been reading Windows Secrets and following Susan Bradley's columns — in which she suggested rolling back an update to see whether it was the cause of problems — I would probably still be playing message tag with Seagate/Maxtor support."
  

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By Susan Bradley

All Windows users need to be aware that Microsoft never links to downloads in its e-mail messages, but always requires a visit to a security bulletin landing page to download a patch.

If you receive an e-mail containing a link promising to upgrade Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, you should simply delete the message to avoid being nailed by a Trojan horse.

Many Windows Secrets readers have recently received these fake e-mails. The scams have focused on a supposed upgrade for Outlook and Outlook Express — e-mail clients widely used in businesses.

The reason I'm writing today's short Patch Watch column — which is outside my usual twice-a-month schedule — is that a high number of these e-mails have reached people's inboxes, somehow evading the usual junk-mail filters.

These fake Outlook patch alerts have affected PC users worldwide. I even found a post from a Microsoft forum in China asking about the e-mail's validity. As the Sophos blog explains, if you follow the instructions in the bogus message, it results in your running nasty hacker code.

Actual security bulletin notices from Microsoft are quite dull. They never include direct links to the downloadable patch. Instead, they require you to go to a bulletin landing page. Most importantly, they're always signed with a PGP signature. (See Figure 1.)


Figure 1. Microsoft's security-bulletin e-mails are always identified as PGP SIGNED.

When in doubt, always download patches directly from the Microsoft Update site. Even considering the recent problems with update notifications that don't always appear in Windows as expected — see this week's Top Story for details — you should always download updates for Windows and other Microsoft software only from Microsoft servers.

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By Katy Abby You know the type: the person who just never seems to have a bad day, who smiles cheerfully in the face of adversity, who always looks on the bright side of life.... Ugh! How annoying! The rest of society has been suffering these cherubic grins and good-humored dispositions for far too long. Finally, pharmaceutical companies have figured out a way to crush the spirits of these jubilant jerks once and for all. Take a look, and have a nice day! Er, I mean (gulp) ... whatever. Play the video

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TOP STORY By Scott Spanbauer It's confirmed: Windows may update unexpectedly Forced updates can result in headaches Microsoft isn't saying exactly what's going on KNOWN ISSUES By Dennis O'Reilly Forced updates plague Windows users worldwide Storm brewing over unexpected update behavior More evidence of behind-the-scenes AU changes PATCH WATCH By Susan Bradley Fake e-mails to patch Outlook lead to malware WACKY WEB WEEK By Katy Abby The cure for the office cheerleader is here!

	LANGALIST PLUS By Fred Langa Test-drive Windows 7 in a virtual machine Isolate the Win7 Release Candidate on your PC NTFS vs. FAT32 for formatting external drives Are temp files forced onto external drives? Free troubleshooting tool diagnoses PC crashes
	BEST SOFTWARE By Ian "Gizmo" Richards Efficiently organize your portable applications Advantages of portable apps on a hard drive Place your portable apps in their own folder Get easy access to all your portable programs The best menu program for portable apps Easily add application shortcuts to the menu
	WOODY'S WINDOWS By Woody Leonhard Avoid early Windows 7 upgrade surprises Your four Windows 7 installation options Three paths for in-place Windows 7 upgrades Bargain alert: Two Windows 7 versions on sale Even more fine print for European Win7 users Windows 7 upgrade details still up in the air

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