It's time to turn off the automatic update of Windows and predict the impact

The month of August 2018 was relatively harmless, although the final resolution of the August problems did not appear until late Friday night. as the month was ending – a three-day weekend in the United States

We have seen the same pattern repeat itself almost every month since the beginning of the year: the first set of Microsoft security patches (including the Win10 patches) introduces bugs, while a series of patches each month overwrites most 'between them. If we are lucky.

Sometimes patches are available in second or third cumulative updates. Sometimes they appear in the monthly cumulative overviews – an odious practice. In both cases, a large group of correctors in the first round is hit. Their more prudent brothers sit and watch, listen to the cries of pain and wait until everything is clear.

If you remain firmly convinced that Microsoft's way is the best, I strongly advise you to install all the updates as soon as they are available. In this way, you can tell us what went wrong. Use your phone

If you are a little nervous, those who learn from the past are not condemned to repeat it, eh? – I recommend you disable the automatic update, just for a moment.

How to block Windows Update

The methods of blocking Windows Update are quite simple.

If you use Windows 7 or 8.1Click Start> Control Panel> System and Security. In Windows Update, click the "Enable or disable automatic update" link. Click on the "Change Settings" link on the left. Check that important updates are set to "Never check for updates (not recommended)", and then click OK.

If you use Windows 10 Pro version 1703, 1709 or 1803, and Microsoft does not change its mind again, you can use the built-in Windows tools to avoid impending fixes – just follow steps 7 and 8 of 8 steps to install Windows 10 patches like a pro. Other Windows 10 users, including all Win10 Home owners, are not so lucky, but the general approach of "meter connections" is detailed in Woody's Win10Tip: Block Forced Windows Updates.

If you are a Paranoid Pro, it would be wise to use the advanced options approach to update and the approach to the measured connection. You can never have too much protection.

To keep your machine on 1703 or 1709 – and avoid 1803, in the meantime – follow the steps detailed in How to block the update of Windows 10 April 2018, version 1803, of the installation. Yes, Microsoft has ignored these settings on some machines, but the use of all the stuff – even when configuring the Pro machines with a measured connection – seems to block the forced march.

Microsoft vowed it would stop distributing security patches for Win10 1703 next month – although it's unclear whether the feed will stop with the first batch of cumulative updates or if the bugs will be serious enough for Microsoft to be ashamed to publish a second or third round of 1703 cumulative updates in October.

Those of us who are still using 1703 will have to decide next month whether we are going to 1709, 1803 or 1809. But that's a decision for another day.

We are at MS-DEFCON 2 on the AskWoody Lounge.