Windows Update–How to stop being annoyed #TipOfTheDay

We all have been there before, whether you are in the middle of working on your laptop/desktop or logged into a Remote Desktop session, that pesky Windows Update appears.  No matter what you do, you can’t get rid of how annoying that restart box is. 

Beyond that, if you click postpone, it’s just going to prompt you later on.  Hey Microsoft: 4 hours isn’t long enough for me!  On top of all of that, the Restart Now button is locked an loaded.  If, and I say if meaning “When”, you click on it, you are done.  Gone goes the tabs of research, the document that wasn’t saved, the sweet blog post; the list goes on and on.  Yes, there are measures built into Win7 and Vista to stop accidental reboots, however, it’s extremely inconvenient, and on XP non-existent.  At my prior job, we used Remote Desktop Services heavily and this was a constant gripe from my users.  I tried to do updates on the weekends, but being a 1 man shop, I like having a life .  Here’s my solution. STOP CLICKING POSTPONE!  That’s right, treat it like any other window you don’t have time for.  Drag that bugger off the screen and leave it there until you, YOU, yes YOU, want to restart.

Doing this you get rid of two major annoyances of mine.  First, there isn’t a nuke button popping up on your screen.  Second, it’s completely out of sight and out of mind.  Windows Update, I WILL REBOOT WHEN I FEEL LIKE IT.  How do you like them apples?

Update:  After doing some digging, I figured these settings could be controlled via Group Policy.  If you open gpedit.msc, the settings sure enough are there:

Like I said before, Home versions of Windows do not have this capability, so what to do?  Regedit!  Apply these regedits and you, yes YOU, can disable the nuclear time bomb yourself.  Make sure you know what you are doing within the registry before you start editing.  I cannot assume any responsibility and will offer no help if you nuke your PC doing so.

 

Technorati Tags: FAIL,Microsoft,PC,Win7,XP,Vista,Windows Update,Windows 7

PowerShell: Backup Script

I hooked up a quick script to backup important items from a PC.  It’s is a quick and dirty solution that I may revisit sometime in the future with enhancements. 

  1: # http://geekswithblogs.net/Lance/archive/2009/12/29/program-files-environment-variable-in-powershell.aspx
  2: # http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/powershell/deleting-files-older-than-a-certain-date/
  3: 
  4: $Today = (Get-Date -format "yyyy-MM-dd")
  5: $targetFolder = "\\BackupServer\Share"
  6: $backupDir = "$targetFolder\$env:username\$Today"
  7: 
  8: function Remove-Items
  9: { 
 10:     $testFolderPath = $targetFolder
 11: 
 12:     if (Test-Path -Path $testFolderPath)
 13:     { 
 14:         $fiveDaysAgo = (Get-Date).AddDays(-5)        
 15:         Get-ChildItem -Path $testFolderPath -Recurse | Where-Object { $_.CreationTime -lt $fiveDaysAgo } | Remove-Item -recurse -force
 16:     }
 17:     else 
 18:     {
 19:         Write-Host "$testFolderPath does not exist."
 20:         #Kill Script
 21:         Exit
 22:     }
 23: }
 24: 
 25: function is64bit()
 26: {
 27:   return ([IntPtr]::Size -eq 8)
 28: }
 29: 
 30: function Get-ProgramFilesDir()
 31: {
 32:   if (is64bit -eq $true) {
 33:     (Get-Item "Env:ProgramFiles(x86)").Value
 34:   }
 35:   else {
 36:     (Get-Item "Env:ProgramFiles").Value
 37:   }
 38: }
 39: 
 40: function Create-Folders 
 41: { 
 42:     if (Test-Path -Path $backupDir) 
 43:     { 
 44:         #do nothing. Folders have been setup already
 45:     }
 46:     else 
 47:     {
 48:         md "$backupDir" -force
 49:     }
 50: }
 51: 
 52: # Remove Folders older than $fivedaysago
 53: Remove-Items
 54: 
 55: # Kills Outlook in preparation for backup
 56: if((get-process "OUTLOOK" -ea SilentlyContinue) -eq $Null){ }else{ Stop-Process -processname Outlook }
 57: 
 58: # Start backup operation
 59: Create-Folders
 60: 
 61: #Robocopy /MIR /Z /COPYALL /MT:20 /R:5 /W:2 /NP "$env:appdata\Microsoft\Outlook" "$backupDir\OutlookAppdata" /LOG+:"$backupDir\backup.log"
 62: #Robocopy /MIR /Z /COPYALL /MT:20 /R:5 /W:2 /NP "$env:userprofile\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook" "$backupDir\Outlook" /LOG+:"$backupDir\backup.log"
 63: #Robocopy /MIR /Z /COPYALL /MT:20 /R:5 /W:2 /NP "$env:userprofile\Documents" "$backupDir\Docs" /LOG+:"$backupDir\backup.log"
 64: #Robocopy /MIR /Z /COPYALL /MT:20 /R:5 /W:2 /NP "$env:userprofile\Favorites" "$backupDir\Favorites" /LOG+:"$backupDir\backup.log"
 65: #Robocopy /MIR /Z /COPYALL /MT:20 /R:5 /W:2 /NP "$env:userprofile\Desktop" "$backupDir\Desktop" /LOG+:"$backupDir\backup.log"
 66: 
 67: #Start Outlook
 68: $programfilespath = Get-ProgramFilesDir
 69: 
 70: if (Test-Path -Path "$programfilespath\Microsoft Office\Office12\Outlook.exe") 
 71: {
 72:     Start-Process "$programfilespath\Microsoft Office\Office12\Outlook.exe"
 73: }
 74: else
 75: {
 76:     Start-Process "$programfilespath\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe"
 77: }

Please note: This script is designed for Vista and above.  It uses Robocopy to backup.  You can get Robocopy on XP by installing the Resource Kit Tools.  I’ve only tested this on Vista and above though.  I’m also using version 2 of PowerShell.

Vista SP2 x32 bit vs. Win 7 x64 bit

I followed the same steps as TK did in his original post.  I really wanted to see which is better.  So, I set out on the absurd task of formatting my box just to install an O.S. and run tests.  I only call it absurd because all of my settings take forever to get back in place.

You don’t have to worry, pc images are your friend.  After creating a TESTED image, I then formatted my box.  Once I had Vista back on my machine, I realized why I went for Win 7 even though it was still in BETA at the time. 

I used the same benchmarking tool as did TK: Passmark Performance Test.  Here are the results:

Summary

1. Vista SP2 x32 bit Passmark Rating - 1259.2
2. Win 7 x64 bit Passmark Rating - 1352.0

It wasn’t even close as I expected.  After all, I am running a x64 bit architecture vs. a x32 bit.  To make things a bit more fair, I’m going to run through the whole process again but this time, I will include: XP SP3 x32 bit, Vista x64 bit, and Win 7 x32 bit.  I know, I know, but what about XP x64 bit… I just wont go there.

If you clicked the links to view the results, you may have noticed exactly why Win 7 beat Vista here… If not, check the Passmark ratings for Total RAM.  That should give you a clear reason why Win 7 x64 bit won.  If you were wondering, I’ve linked a Belarc Report so you can view the hardware that I am using for these tests.

Technorati Tags: stress Test,benchmarking,xp,win7,vista

TK posts big!

Technorati Tags: Benchmarking,Stress Test,Ubuntu,Vista,Win7,XP

Check out the work a great friend of mine is doing:

http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=102&threadID=280962&messageID=2659904

Big ups to TK and getting accurate results out to the web.  He also runs tests against the new Win7 and Vista.  You can check out his latest post @

http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=102&threadID=313863&messageID=3124031

I can’t stress the importance enough about these tests.  Allowing the default O.S. to be tested in this unbiased manner proves valuable for anyone who owns a computer.  If you’d like more details about how these tests were conducted, comment till your fingers bleed.  It’s definitely worth it IMHO