Has this happened to you? You're sitting at your laptop, typing away, when you glance at the clock and realize it's time to go. So you shut down Windows--only to be informed that it needs to install some updates first. Ten minutes later, you're still waiting for the job to finish--effectively held hostage by your operating system.
That, my friends, is a hassle with a capital 'H.'
How hard would it be for Microsoft to add a deferment, an "install updates later" or "not right now" option? This whole thing about forced updating during shutdown is borderline insulting.
Fortunately, if you see the little update-alert icon alongside the Shut Down button, there's a simple way to bypass it. Here's how:
1. Shut down all your programs so that only the desktop remains.
2. Press
Alt-F4.
3. Click the pull-down menu, and change it from
Install updates and shut down to simply
Shut down. Then click
OK.
Presto: Windows shuts down straight away, without installing any updates. That'll teach you to take me hostage, Microsoft!
Actually, once you get in the habit, you might find pressing
Alt-F4 a quicker and more preferable way to shut down your PC. One less mouse click!
