OT ? More W7 updates

In the past, folks have discovered that often the only thing that separates one MS OS product from another are a few registry settings.

Folks would tweak those settings and gain the functionality of the more advanced product.

MS would retaliate by introducing software that continuously monitored for any attempts to alter them and would change them back.

[Often, MS isn't smart enough to realize that you could make those changes while windows is NOT running -- so, couldn't see your misdeed! I htink they have even caught on to this and now hide information about what the settings *should* be so they can change them back even if they can't SEE you making those changes!]

I think if you'll look back at the previous update thread, you'll note I suggested you examine the descriptions of each update instead of blindly taking MS's word for what's "recommended".

Note that there is nothing to prevent MS from *requiring* you to install an update -- they can do so by not allowing subsequent updates to install; and can even condition the update *process* on the presence of that update (they did this for the Windows Genuine Advantage hook).

You can actually (well, you *could* the last time I used Windows Update; but that was 2 years ago!) "expand" the explanation of each of the individual updates in the list that MS presents. Then, highlight everything and copy/paste it into a TXT file for future reference.

It's usually wise to do a snapshot/image of the disk before any update process. Then, if you later realize you've been tricked into installing something that you don't want, you can roll back to the previous image and try again (consulting the copy/pasted list to determine which updates you installed and now want NOT to install).

Here's a fragment of one of my installation logs:

[stuff elided]

Perform Clonezilla Image as "3_AfterServicePacks" 6309MB ~26 minutes

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