March 25, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Bad Automation
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March 26, 2008 at 3:21 am
Totally agree that the recurring pop-up modal dialog is a pain in the butt!
I play games on an evening sometimes which switch the display to a different mode and assume full screen running.
Playing Rome Total War and Medieval 2 Total War that damn dialog can pop up in the middle of a critical phase of a battle. It can take upto 2 mins to switch screen modes back to the game each time it happens and why should I do a reboot when I do not want to?
I know I should save the game quit and reboot but thats 5 plus minutes of my time.
I don't drink tea or coffee so having a break is not really what I want to do.
Interrupt us the first time - thats ok, not good but ok, more than once is annoying!
--Shaun
Hiding under a desk from SSIS Implemenation Work :crazy:
March 26, 2008 at 3:27 am
There's a far worse one from Symantec! I was updating my laptop last week after it had been repaired and the Norton Antivirus updates downloaded and then the reboot required box appeared but it had only an OK button, no other option at all.
I didn't want to reboot just then as I had another download going so I closed the dialog box with the X in top right (there wasn't a minimise option) and the laptop rebooted anyway. Had I been editing anything I would have lost the lot!
This is really bad user control and maybe enough publicity would embarass them into fixing it!
March 26, 2008 at 3:30 am
P Jones;
I have definately seen at least one of those types of dialog, can't remember where.
Makes you want to throw the whole thing out of the window!
At least MS gives you the choice of either reboot or wait.
Not very User friendly at all.
--Shaun
Hiding under a desk from SSIS Implemenation Work :crazy:
March 26, 2008 at 4:06 am
I have to agree this is a really irritating "feature".
I’ve now switch auto update to not do anything unless I tell it to because of those naggings. I’ll usually just do it at the end of the day before I finish my work or head off to bed, then if it wants to nag or reboot it can.
March 26, 2008 at 5:04 am
I've come across a several applications which open dialog boxes and assume context. Also, as well as Symantec, the ZoneAlarm firewall uses a 'Do you want to reboot' box with just an OK button and, as I recall, it also reboots if you just try to close the window. I think I've come across others in past.
The other thing that annoys me is programs that force their dialog window to be on top, often as well as grabbing context, so if you don't want to answer it, you're then stuck with this item cluttering your screen!
I can't think of any situation where a program should either grab context or force a window to be on top without having a setting to disable this behaviour. The working of MY computer should be up to ME not the program author's whim.
Derek
March 26, 2008 at 5:31 am
The only instance I can think of where it is appropriate is for a critical O/S or hardware failure, maybe even heaven forbid virus infection/infestation.
such as a 'shut me down now before I die/implode/damage some other component' type of message.
--Shaun
Hiding under a desk from SSIS Implemenation Work :crazy:
March 26, 2008 at 5:36 am
I agree - the Windows update reboot reminder is aggravating. As a developer, I often have several windows open during the day, and it's not convenient to close everything out just to do a reboot.
You should have the option to 'snooze' for a period of time of your choosing. You should also have the option to tell the reminder to go away. Most of us are big pants people - I'm capable of remembering to shut down my pc at the end of the day. If I don't reboot and my machine is compromised, because a security feature in the update hasn't taken effect, that's my fault. As fallible as all end-users are (me included), application developers should not shove certain behaviors down our throat.
March 26, 2008 at 6:23 am
Incidentally, you can configure Automatic Updates with Group Policy under Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / Windows Components / Windows Update or directly via the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / Software / Policies / Microsoft / Windows / WindowsUpdate. See the following Microsoft Knowledgebase article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/328010 or these Microsoft Technet articles: http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/51c8a814-6665-4d50-a0d8-2ae27e69ca7c1033.mspx?mfr=true and http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/75ee9da8-0ffd-400c-b722-aeafdb68ceb31033.mspx?mfr=true
March 26, 2008 at 6:23 am
Thankfully, this has been fixed in Vista - the reminder message is now a balloon-tip from the system tray.
If you have 2000 SP3 or XP SP1 or higher, you can change the default 10 minute window via Group Policy. Look under Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update for the policy called "Re-prompt for restart with scheduled installations".
March 26, 2008 at 6:33 am
I accidentally rebooted my main production SQL Server because of this a few weeks back. In the middle of the day. One of the patches we had applied one weekend must not have gotten done right. So I am working on some other stuff in SQL on the server, hit enter to confirm a change just as this box popped up.... Yikes!
March 26, 2008 at 6:47 am
Unfortunately, from a security perspective, there are WAY too may clueless users who won't reboot their (home) computer for weeks or months, leaving them vulnerable to active threats even though the fix is almost ready to run (installed pending reboot). Putting up a nagging reminder to reboot will eventually cause them to do so. Recent article in USA Today: 1 in 4 computers is estimated to be part of one (or more) botnets.
I agree that taking context control is awful (same with MS Outlook calendar reminder alerts - can't count how many times I was typing a document only to find myself typing in the snooze delay box...). This is a good thing that could be implemented better. I like the earlier post idea about the flashing item in the Start bar. Only problem there is when users auto-hide the Start menu; flashing then is pointless. I think the best option is a balloon reminder like you see when you start patch/update installations on XP/etc.
March 26, 2008 at 6:54 am
It would be much better if the default [enter] were 'restart later'. Then an accidental activation would merely be slightly inconvenient.
...
-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --
March 26, 2008 at 7:40 am
Whenever the reminder box comes up the first time I just don't do anything and click to the previous window I was at. This initial dialog is modeless so if you don't click either the Restart Now or Restart Later buttons you can just click away and ignore it. It'll be in your taskbar still, but it beats getting nagged every 10 minutes with a modal dialog.
BTW, that group policy idea is really neat, thanks for posting it!
March 26, 2008 at 7:51 am
I go a short step further than Timothy, and drag the window down to the extreme lower right of my screen. When I'm done with dragging, only a few pixels of the window are visible--the rest of it is beyond the bottom of the screen.
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