I applaud those who have discovered the likely problem to this. And, I should say given the fact the WSUS (Windows Server Update Services 3.0) takes a PhD in calculus to use, I do my updates manually. It is hard to get my staff to remember to update their PCs. I do like to know what they are updating, but I am not too worried about clients. So, auto updates aren't that bad of an idea. But, it is never a good idea on your main computer. For one, you may not want or need all of the updates. That new printer driver for your Dell printer may not be necessary given your current one is working just fine. But, as the article states below, some updates such as SQL Server 2005 SP3 may require user intervention, it may not install without your being there, hence the issues above. Plus, do you really want to install a full SP without researching it first or doing a full backup or even asking on here if people have tried it first? We should be able to trust Microsoft, but you have to decide, as we all do, between the recommendation of keeping your computer up to date vs the age old adage, why fix it if it ain't broke?
The other issue with autoupdates, is when you come to the office fully expecting the antivirus to have run and your backups to be done, only to find the server was rebooted, because of the autoupdate and its required reboot.
* When you use Microsoft Update to install SQL Server 2005 SP3, the installation is unattended unless components are clustered. If components are clustered, you must follow the prompts to complete the installation.
* Microsoft Update upgrades all instances of SQL Server 2005 to SQL Server 2005 SP3. For example, if you have two instances of SQL Server 2005 that are running on the computer, both instances are upgraded to SQL Server 2005 SP3.
* The SQL Server 2005 Express Edition updates are shown when you do an express scan and are available as an automatic update. The other editions of SQL Server are available as a custom update or as an optional update.
* For more information about Microsoft Update, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/about.aspx (
http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/about.aspx)
