Home Technology A new study has concluded that Windows 10’s forced reboots are a bad idea

A new study has concluded that Windows 10’s forced reboots are a bad idea

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If you’re using Windows 10 Home and have been keeping up with your updates, you’ll have no doubt run into the scenario where an important update is pending, but you’re in the middle of your work. Windows 10 chimes a notification in your tray that says it has to reboot now-now, and will generally enforce this with a reboot if necessary. For the last few years Windows users have been trying desperately to stop this from happening, and Microsoft has not relented on their decision to force these updates on their users. A study conducted at University College London now says that forced updates on Windows 10 Home users are generally bad.

The study, titled “In Control with no Control: Perceptions and Reality of Windows 10 Home Edition Update Features” by Morris, Becker, and Parkin, goes in depth about how Windows 10 Home generally behaves when it comes to updates for both security patches and new features. The study of 93 Windows 10 Home users found that almost all the users had patterns of use that didn’t conform to Microsoft’s Active Hours feature, and 28% of users didn’t know Active Hours was a setting they could alter. Almost half of all participants in the survey indicated that they actively checked for updates manually to make sure their computer was up to date and that bugs were fixed (last year, Microsoft admitted that it pushed untested updates to Windows 10 users who actively checked for updates as part of a program to release these updates timeously and not as part of a monthly cumulative update).

The study also details why Windows 10 Home was the target and not Pro or Education, two versions which would feature more heavily in a university environment. When an update to Windows 10 Home is downloaded, a timer starts ticking down to 24 hours, and forces a reboot when the timer is finished. In the past, Windows 7 used to do similar things by default but it would also by default only check for and install updates at 3AM in the morning local time. Windows 10 Home checks for updates by the hour, and once the timer is set it can not be cancelled or halted. You’re stuck with it.

The study also ran a Windows 10 Home installation inside a virtual machine, and ran several experiments to determine why and how the machine would reboot forcefully. The result is this complex maze of questions that Windows goes through before the reboot is enacted:

If you actually stopped to read through them all, you may have seen one path that stood out from the rest. If there is a quality update (read: security patch) available, the OS is programmed to offer the user the chance to schedule the update. If no action is taken when this pop-up is shown, the OS then asks itself if the computer is currently in use. If it is, it prompts the user with more choices. If you’re not at your desk at that point, it will forcefully install the update and reboot the system. This is why using the Metered Network setting for your Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection doesn’t always work, because a quality update that requires a reboot will still trigger a reboot with the right conditions.

The study then goes on to highlight two problem areas with this approach that they mapped out in their experiments. One was that Microsoft relied on keyboard and mouse input to determine if the user was at their computer. If you’ve ever had your lock screen come on while watching video, you’ll know why that is; Windows does not consider a full-screen video playing on the desktop to be “using the computer”. That’s why Windows Media Player has a toggle to stop the computer going into sleep mode if you were watching a video full-screen.

Similarly, videogames take inputs directly, and the operating system does not distinguish whether or not a full-screen application like a videogame counts as using the computer. There are some well-known clips of Twitch streamers having their PC reboot in the middle of a match, which should have never happened because they were clearly providing input and using their computers.

Microsoft also made changes recently that will prevent users from disabling the Windows Update service entirely. Even if you disable Windows Update and the Update orchestrator services, the operating system can re-enable them at any time without warning.

The authors note that Microsoft has a patent relating to detecting use of the computer before an update initiates a reboot, but their own testing determined that this feature did not work. Even if the notification says it would remind the user, it still rebooted forcefully after the user selected another time in the next week to install the update inside their active hours. Windows does not warn the user of the possibility of losing valuable work and time.

The other major problem area is that users who have an established workflow have to restart that workflow if an update and reboot is forced on them. They have to restart their applications and get back to what they were doing. In the case of users that rely on Microsoft’s Office 365 suite, that’s not a major problem because all documents are automatically saved anyway.

If the user has any other use for the machine, however, like Photoshop, Blender rendering, KDEnlive video editing, or programming in an IDE with many different plugins and programs loaded to support their work, that takes time to rebuild. In this regard, the study’s authors suggest that Windows needs to offer the option to automatically takes snapshots of the system state and offer a roll-back to that state if the update required a reboot or resulted in corrupted data.

Personally, my recommendation is that if you’re a Windows 10 Home user, spend the extra money to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. You get a lot more control over updates and how they affect you, and you can rest easier because there are more controls available through Group Policy that dictate system behaviour. Alternatively, if your needs don’t hinge on Microsoft’s ecosystem you can also run Linux. In the past month, I’ve only had to reboot once for a kernel update.

Last Updated: March 4, 2019

39 Comments

  1. Admiral Chief

    March 4, 2019 at 12:29

  2. justlikemo

    March 4, 2019 at 12:29

    Yeh, I dislike updates personally. I never reboot, I will keep my machine alive for weeks if I have to.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief

      March 4, 2019 at 12:29

      HIBERNATE LIKE A MF

      Reply

      • justlikemo

        March 4, 2019 at 12:38

        yup

        Reply

      • justlikemo

        March 4, 2019 at 12:38

        last week I figured out how to save my browsing tabs on Edge, as the frikking support people forced updates to my machine.

        Reply

      • HvR

        March 4, 2019 at 12:38

        That is if hibernate actually works.

        Every second update seems to break hibernate on my Lenovo.

        Manually start hibernation, oes into hibernation, close lid, few minutes later Windows 10 Pro decide fuck you I starting up in any case I do not care if the laptop lid is closed, zipped in a laptop back pack in the boot of the car I GOING TO KILL BOTH OF YOU WITH FIRE!!!!!

        Reply

      • justlikemo

        March 4, 2019 at 12:38

        yup

        Reply

      • justlikemo

        March 4, 2019 at 12:38

        last week I figured out how to save my browsing tabs on Edge, as the frikking support people forced updates to my machine.

        Reply

      • HvR

        March 4, 2019 at 12:38

        That is if hibernate actually works.

        Every second update seems to break hibernate on my Lenovo.

        Manually start hibernation, oes into hibernation, close lid, few minutes later Windows 10 Pro decide fuck you I starting up in any case I do not care if the laptop lid is closed, zipped in a laptop back pack in the boot of the car I GOING TO KILL BOTH OF YOU WITH FIRE!!!!!

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief

          March 4, 2019 at 12:44

          Lenovo is kaaaaaaaaaaaak

          Reply

        • justlikemo

          March 4, 2019 at 12:44

          I enable “do nothing when I close my lid” on the laptop. If something is busy, it will finish then hibernate, or if I am moving around and need to check my screen in / between meetings, I can happily close the lid, and nothing happens.

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief

            March 4, 2019 at 12:44

            Ditto

  3. Admiral Chief

    March 4, 2019 at 12:29

    Microsoft, what can we do to you today

    Reply

    • Kromas

      March 4, 2019 at 14:38

      Still a better love story than twilight …. and a better company then EA/Activision/(insert hated game publisher of the week)

      Reply

      • HvR

        March 4, 2019 at 15:50

        I’ve warmed up to M$ over the years.

        Just still baffles me that a company with the capability to produce the Xbone, very good frist party game development and awesome tech such as the Hololens can fuck up so badly with Windows, Skype and the Store.

        Reply

        • Kromas

          March 4, 2019 at 15:50

          Just remember because of MS fuckups on the original Xbox a whole new job was created. UX designer.

          Reply

          • HvR

            March 4, 2019 at 17:14

            Well then the need a new position on the Skype team; Common Sense Coordinator.

            Because apparently adding another set of emoji’s and moving a random shit on the in call window from the left to right is more important that restoring the arm list of core features that was lost during the last major update

  4. HvR

    March 4, 2019 at 12:38

    Whole update system is just fooked even with Pro I’ve found the update settings get ignored if M$ deems the update critical. Wonderful if you are currently testing software that has issue with specific update set; that is also the other problem actually getting a PC in a specific state is major headache in between specific version and random set of patches.

    Reply

    • justlikemo

      March 4, 2019 at 12:51

      there used to be a system state tool in windows 7 for this, can’t remember the name, where you could revert your system to a specific state prior to all the updates, especially for software that use on your machine

      Reply

      • Llama In The Rift

        March 4, 2019 at 13:51

        Yeah that’s a System Restore Point though you need to create a restore point…if not, its gonna be a struggle

        Reply

  5. HvR

    March 4, 2019 at 12:38

    Whole update system is just fooked even with Pro I’ve found the update settings get ignored if M$ deems the update critical. Wonderful if you are currently testing software that has issue with specific update set; that is also the other problem actually getting a PC in a specific state is major headache in between specific version and random set of patches.

    Reply

  6. Magoo

    March 4, 2019 at 12:38

    There is a permanent fix to this, if you go to your settings > exit settings because there’s nothing you can do here > open web browser > download windows 7 > install

    Reply

  7. Admiral Chief

    March 4, 2019 at 12:51

    So, a STUDY needs to conclude the BLATANTLY OBVIOUS

    I’m kicking off a study to determine the effects of beer

    Key research points:
    – Effect of beer in the morning
    – Effect of beer in the mid-morning
    – Effect of beer at lunch time
    – Effect of beer at lunch time after lunch
    – Effect of beer in early afternoon
    – Effect of beer in mid-afternoon
    – Effect of beer pre-dinner
    – Effect of beer mid-dinner
    – Effect of beer post dinner
    – Effect of beer before bed time
    – Effect of beer in the middle of the night
    – Effect of beer with chips
    – Effect of beer with beef
    – Effect of beer with pork
    – Effect of beer with fish
    – Effect of beer with shellfish
    – Effect of beer with vegetables
    – Effect of beer with vegetables, an extended study on the need for vegetables
    – Effect of beer with fruit
    – Effect of beer with fruit, an extended study on the need for fruit
    – Effect of beer in helping with coping with work related stress
    – Effect of beer in helping with coping with personal related stress
    – Effect of beer in helping with coping with financial stress

    The above will then need to be re-evaluated over a different seasonal impact, as to determine if seasonal changes affect the above data

    The above will also need to be applied every year, as my body changes with time

    Reply

    • Pariah

      March 4, 2019 at 12:59

      You missed: “Effect of beer in helping with coping with a complete lack of stress”

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief

        March 4, 2019 at 13:12

        You can become a research associate

        Reply

    • Guz

      March 4, 2019 at 13:13

      Where do we sign up for this study, I will do it for….science!!!

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief

        March 4, 2019 at 13:19

        Research associate positions are open, you must just swear fealty to the Admiral

        Reply

        • Guz

          March 4, 2019 at 13:19

          o/ all hail o/ xD

          Reply

    • Original Heretic

      March 4, 2019 at 12:59

      Now start a GoFundMe

      Reply

  8. Pariah

    March 4, 2019 at 12:59

    While anyone with at least a tiny portion of their brain still functioning knows that the forced reboots are a bad idea – I will always question the results of a survey of 93 people. That’s simply not large enough to produce statistically relevant data.

    Reply

  9. Guz

    March 4, 2019 at 13:19

    Forced restart super annoying!

    Reply

  10. Martin Human

    March 4, 2019 at 14:09

    And how about print companies that lose large format prints if a machine restarts itself? 10m x 3m banner moertoe? Microsoft can pissof.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief

      March 4, 2019 at 14:09

      Speaking out of experience there I take it

      Reply

      • Martin Human

        March 4, 2019 at 14:54

        Jip, don’t see Microsoft paying for those reprints. I do.

        Reply

    • frikkenator

      March 4, 2019 at 17:58

      You really shouldn’t be using Windows Home for your business. It costs like R1000 to upgrade.

      Reply

  11. Johan Lewis Last

    March 6, 2019 at 19:16

    It generally should take less than 30 seconds to boot up IF you are running with the recommended hardware and not the cheapest you have. I restart any of my devices running Windows 10 and I am back “online” within 30 seconds of clicking reboot except on one, which is a 2GB hybrid tablet running Windows, that ones takes a bit longer. It is not a hassle to restart for an update especially if I have been notified of said restart.

    Reply

  12. Johan Lewis Last

    March 6, 2019 at 19:16

    It generally should take less than 30 seconds to boot up IF you are running with the recommended hardware and not the cheapest you have. I restart any of my devices running Windows 10 and I am back “online” within 30 seconds of clicking reboot except on one, which is a 2GB hybrid tablet running Windows, that ones takes a bit longer. It is not a hassle to restart for an update especially if I have been notified of said restart.

    Reply

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