MS-DEFCON 2: Make sure automatic updates is turned off

With Patch Tuesday just around the corner, and a whole bunch of patches coming, now’s a good time to make sure that Automatic Updates is turned off.

Follow the instructions in any of my books to disable automatic updating, or click Start | Control Panel | Security Center (in Windows 7, Start | Control Panel | System and Security | Windows Update) and take it from there. I choose to Notify but don’t Download.

Note that turning off Automatic Updates does NOT turn off Microsoft Security Essentials updating.

I’m moving us up to MS-DEFCON 2: Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don’t do it.