B. Livingston wrote:

Use Steve Gibson’s InControl software to schedule Windows updates.…
InControl is his free answer to the many updates Redmond releases. The app allows you to pause all nonsecurity patches until you’ve verified that they’re safe to install.

InControl doesn’t schedule anything or pause all non-security patches:

Susan Bradley wrote:

Incontrol only sets feature release, it does not control the monthly updates.

Thanks.  I have a long ongoing problem with updates (Windows 10). I have this message

“Your device is missing important security and quality fixes.”

“There were some problems installing updates, but we’ll try again later. If you keep seeing this and want to search the web or contact support for information, this may help: (0x80070643)

I  repeatedly tried this operation with the same result.  I have downloaded and used Windows repair tool.  Still no luck!  I am 88 yo and go back to the days of MS DOS.  No luck with this one.  I would appreciate any suggestions.  Patrick Kirkwood.

Perhaps I’ve read this article too fast but I’ve gone over it two more times and I can’t help but feeling that Mr Livingston has overlooked the obvious in his initial complaint that MS Update’s patch KB5032190 made the “Quick Access” area in Windows Explorer disappear.

The update has not made Quick Access disappear, it has simply renamed it to “Home.”  You can even see this in the Figure 2 attachment in his article.  What Microsoft has forgotten to do is rename the context menu commands “Pin to Quick Access” and “Remove from Quick Access.”  They should now read “Pin to Home” and “Remove from Home.”  Indeed, if one right-clicks on any folder and chooses the command “Pin to Quick Access” even now, the folder is, as one would expect, immediately added to the Home (formerly Quick Access) area.

Aside from this unfortunate cosmetic oversight (which will probably be fixed by Microsoft within another update or two), of the issues Mr Livingston brings up, this one is really a non-issue to those who have noticed the new nomenclature.

Regards.

I may have found another problem caused by this update to Windows 11. I installed the update around the middle of November, and soon realized I had a couple of problems that occurred if I left my PC running and walked away for a while. When I would return I found that the icons on the task bar were no longer responsive. Clicking on them did nothing. Also, I found I could click on a desktop icon and the associated program would open, but the menu bar for the program was also dead and unresponsive. Through trial and error I discovered I could clear these problems by pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL, selecting Task Manager, then closing it. I am running Stardock’s Start11, so perhaps there was an issue between these programs, but I really do not know if that is the case or not. At any rate I took your advice and uninstalled the Microsoft update, and now the problem appears to be gone.

I for one am no fan of Quick Access, Home, Libraries, etc.  I have had a multi-partitioning data storage scheme in use for more than two decades, and Microsoft’s “Features” muddle it up.  I disable/uninstall/delete registry entries for all of them, and get along quite nicely without the fluff.

As for updates/upgrades, I always have drive images at the ready for any issues, and have had only two (which were actually the same issue, I’m reasonably sure) eight years apart.  I have four Windows 11 installations on three sets of hardware (including unsupported hardware) and all are fully updated/upgraded with everything Microsoft has to offer through Windows Update.  Whenever the “Features” get re-installed, I re-uninstall them.

Of course Susan’s Patch Watch is very useful, vital even, for those who need/want/use it, particularly business entities.  But I don’t need it.

Just unbelievable. Another nail in the coffin for Windows. Microsoft has been treating customers like beta testers for a long time, but releasing patches that break the system is beyond the limits of acceptable behavior. I refuse to use an OS that forces so much unnecessary work on its customers.

This article has solidified my resolve to switch to Linux for web browsing and day-to-day tasks. I’ll use a separate, air-gapped Win10 computer (without updates) for the handful of Windows-based programs that have no good Linux alternative.