Windows 10 Redstone 4 will prevent your PC from sleeping to allow Windows Update to finish

[Master Disaster]

Yesterday Microsoft dropped the release notes for its latest insider build of Windows 10 (17017) and at the top of the list is the following

Quote

Keeping PCs Up-to-date: In an effort to prevent PCs from becoming out of date, we are introducing a change in behavior to Windows Update that is designed to be more proactive at keeping PCs updated. In RS4, now when Windows Update scans, downloads, and installs on a PC with AC power – it will prevent the PC from going to sleep when it is not in active use, for up to 2 hours when receiving an update in order to give Windows Update more opportunity to succeed. If you are not seeing this new behavior, let us know by sending in feedback via Feedback Hub.

The rest of the patch notes are as follows

Quote

We fixed an issue where Settings would crash when you tried to open Themes.
We fixed an issue where the Settings tile didn’t have a name if you pinned it to Start.
We’ve updated About Settings to include at a glance entries for the two new Windows Defender pillars (Account Protection and Device Security).
We fixed a typo in Storage Sense Settings.
We fixed an issue resulting in all dropdowns in Settings appearing blank until clicked.
We fixed an issue that could result in Settings crashing after having navigated to and left Sound Settings.
We fixed an issue where closing certain apps after using in-app search could result in them hanging on the splash screen the next time they were launched.
We fixed an issue where plugging in an external optical drive (DVD) will cause an Explorer.exe crash.
We fixed an issue resulting in the hamburger button in Windows Defender overlapping the home button.
We fixed an issue where certain games using Easy Anti Cheat could result in the system experiencing a bugcheck (KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED).
We fixed an issue where we had observed seeing longer-than-normal delays during install at the 88% mark. Some delays were as long as 90 minutes before moving forward.
We fixed an issue resulting in the Windows Defender offline scan not working in recent builds.
Some Insiders may have noticed a new message when holding down the power button which says “Please release the power button. We just need a few more seconds to shut down”. This is an Insider-only feature that gathers additional diagnostic data for situations where holding down the power button was used to recover an unresponsive or nonfunctional system.  It is important to note that holding down the power button is not the appropriate way to shutdown/reboot a system that is functioning properly. See this support page for additional information on how to properly shutdown your PC.

And the list of known issues

Quote

Buttons on Game bar are not centered correctly.
Selecting a notification after taking a screenshot or game clip opens the Xbox app’s home screen instead of opening the screenshot or game clip.
Post-install at the first user-prompted reboot or shutdown, a small number of devices have experienced a scenario wherein the OS fails to load properly and may enter a reboot loop state. For affected PCs, turning off fast boot may bypass the issue. If not, it is necessary to create a bootable ISO on a USB drive, boot into recovery mode, and this this will allow bypass.
Tearing a PDF tab in Microsoft Edge will result in a bugcheck (GSOD).

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2018/02/23/announcing-windows-10-insider-preview-build-17107-fast-ring/

 

I decided to bring this up as while I can see that them doing this is probably intended to be a good thing it's once again Microsoft taking control of a users PC away from them.

 

If a user on A/C power has they're PC set to sleep when not in use then I imagine they probably have a personal reason to do so, maybe to save power and money, maybe to save noise pollution, maybe some other reason.

 

When this releases it means that a lot of people's computers are suddenly going to start acting different to how the user wants to fulfil a need that Microsoft is imposing on them and IMO that's not cool.

[Demonking]

I look forward to this update breaking some more of my software.

[emosun]

55 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

When this releases it means that a lot of people's computers are suddenly going to start acting different to how the user wants to fulfil a need that Microsoft is imposing on them and IMO that's not cool.

WELCOME TO WINDOWS 10.....................

 

Your computer isn't yours.... It belongs to microsoft. It's microsofts information collection terminal , not your computer.

I'm surprised this update doesn't flat out say "were keeping your computer on to mine bitcoin for us while you are away"
 

[AlTech]

I seriously doubt someone would set their PC to sleep to reduce power bills or reducing noise pollution. 

 

Keeping a PC on to download an update is perfectly fine imho. Otherwise you end up with people on an out of date version which isn't supported. Nothing to see here. 

 

I know people who hate updating and updates. But frankly updates are just a part of modern software products. I would say that most users don't do a good enough job of staying up to date imo.and if they don't like updates then I'd suggest not using tech products.

 

Also, no offense OP but why is this news?

[suicidalfranco]

In Ubuntu full time since 2015, no regrets, wish my workplace would let me use it there too. Since we moved from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and every tool for PLC, HMI and SCADA programming all have their own VM, there really is no use for W10 other than just because 

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

1 minute ago, AluminiumTech said:

I seriously doubt someone would set their PC to sleep to reduce power bills or reducing noise pollution. 

i do this. when i walk away from my pc, it goes to sleep after about 2 minutes. this is perfect because when it does, my 3 displays and audio system turn off with it. 

[suicidalfranco]

1 minute ago, AluminiumTech said:

I seriously doubt someone would set their PC to sleep to reduce power bills or reducing noise pollution. 

 

Keeping a PC on to download an update is perfectly fine imho. Otherwise you end up with people on an out of date version which isn't supported. Nothing to see here. 

 

I know people who hate updating and updates. But frankly updates are just a part of modern software products. I would say that most users don't do a good enough job of staying up to date imo.and if they don't like updates then I'd suggest not using tech products.

 

Also, no offense OP but why is this news?

Until said updates breaks everything, stucks your PC in a bootloop and slows everything down like we've seen with the recent wave of "patches" for meltdown

[captain_to_fire]

42 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

When this releases it means that a lot of people's computers are suddenly going to start acting different to how the user wants to fulfil a need that Microsoft is imposing on them and IMO that's not cool.

Microsoft’s corporate motto:

 

”We can do anything. Grab ‘em by the PC.” 

[AlTech]

2 minutes ago, firelighter487 said:

i do this. when i walk away from my pc, it goes to sleep after about 2 minutes. this is perfect because when it does, my 3 displays and audio system turn off with it. 

I'm fairly certain it wouldn't reduce power consumption that much. And unless electricity is ridiculously expensive where you live, I personally wouldn't do it.

 

In the past with my previous PC build, I mostly either kept it on or shut it down when I was done with it. Most of the time I don't want a desktop to sleep. 

[PineyCreek]

Here's hoping this build fixes all the issues I've had since 1709 :D.  I'm sure it'll introduce new problems, but as long as my system starts paying attention to system timers again, that'd be awesome.

[emosun]

20 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Keeping a PC on to download an update is perfectly fine imho. Otherwise you end up with people on an out of date version which isn't supported.

I'm sorry but how many years are you assuming someone pc is asleep for?

Like as if a pc being 1 or 2 days out of date will cause some sort of catastrophic event in which the machine isn't compatible with anything anymore.

[Master Disaster]

26 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

I seriously doubt someone would set their PC to sleep to reduce power bills or reducing noise pollution. 

 

Keeping a PC on to download an update is perfectly fine imho. Otherwise you end up with people on an out of date version which isn't supported. Nothing to see here. 

 

I know people who hate updating and updates. But frankly updates are just a part of modern software products. I would say that most users don't do a good enough job of staying up to date imo.and if they don't like updates then I'd suggest not using tech products.

 

Also, no offense OP but why is this news?

So why else would someone on A/C power configure their machine to sleep if unused for a few minutes?

 

It's like I said, I can see the good intent in this move but the only people it's going to affect are people who've specifically instructed their PC to not behave in this way, literally nobody else will not even notice this is a thing and those that have instructed their PCs to sleep after a short period very likely have a personal reason to do so.

 

Remember, just because it's not an issue for you doesn't mean it's not an issue for everyone.

[xAcid9]

If this feature will put my PC back to sleep mode after it finish updating window then i'm totally fine with that. I don't really want any downtime when i'm actually in front of the PC.

Hopefully this feature is disable for laptop with low battery.

[ScratchCat]

12 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

I'm fairly certain it wouldn't reduce power consumption that much. And unless electricity is ridiculously expensive where you live, I personally wouldn't do it.

Sleep power consumption could be 2-10W depending on the system while idling the power consumption could be 30+W even with the display off. This is a noticeable difference if running for a long period of time.

26 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Keeping a PC on to download an update is perfectly fine imho. Otherwise you end up with people on an out of date version which isn't supported. Nothing to see here. 

 

I know people who hate updating and updates. But frankly updates are just a part of modern software products. I would say that most users don't do a good enough job of staying up to date imo.and if they don't like updates then I'd suggest not using tech products.

There is hardly a point to keeping the PC on during sleep in order to download updates, even if one only uses the PC once per day for 1 hour there should be enough time to install updates.

 

Most users have the updates set to be automatically downloaded and installed, the time of installation is then defined when the user turns off the computer. Windows 10 seems rather aggressive in forcing the user to restart so the time taken for an update to be installed is unlikely to be more than 3 days which for everything but a zero day exploit which is actively being used. 

[Mail me to the Moon]

58 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

Until said updates breaks everything, stucks your PC in a bootloop and slows everything down like we've seen with the recent wave of "patches" for meltdown

This is the problem with mandatory updates, and why enterprise solutions prefer to test updates before pushing them. No-one wants to be Microsofts beta tester. People use their computers for work, entertainment, communication and the like.

 

Microsoft needs to get with the times.

[Misanthrope]

Just now, Mail me to the Moon said:

This is the problem with mandatory updates, and why enterprise solutions prefer to test updates before pushing them. No-one wants to be Microsofts beta tester. People use their computers for work, entertainment, communication and the like.

 

Microsoft needs to get with the times.

As a misanthropic individual with no love for Microsoft, this.

 

As an employee looking to dodge work guilt free: Bring me all of the updates whenever!

[Sakkura]

People are being so damn stupid about all this.

 

Oh noes Windows updated while I was playing a game, and I had only been postponing updates repeatedly for 3 weeks.

 

Oh noes Windows decided to update when it was going to sleep so it wouldn't be forced to do it while I was playing a game.

 

FFS, it has to update at some point.

[suicidalfranco]

3 minutes ago, Sakkura said:

FFS, it has to update at some point.

yeah... when the user tells it to

[Mail me to the Moon]

6 minutes ago, Sakkura said:

People are being so damn stupid about all this.

 

Oh noes Windows updated while I was playing a game, and I had only been postponing updates repeatedly for 3 weeks.

 

Oh noes Windows decided to update when it was going to sleep so it wouldn't be forced to do it while I was playing a game.

 

FFS, it has to update at some point.

No. No it does not.

 

Not every user needs security patches. Not every user needs content packages. Many users can install updates manually if need be. Good examples are gaming rigs, closed systems and media centers.

 

The only updates that should ever be forced on a consumer are critical security patches. And even then that's iffy. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Sakkura]

Just now, suicidalfranco said:

yeah... when the user tells it to

Most people never tell it to.

[Sakkura]

1 minute ago, Mail me to the Moon said:

No. No it does not.

 

Not every user needs security patches. Not every user needs content packages. Many users can install updates manually if need be. Good examples are gaming rigs, closed systems and media centers.

 

The only updates that should ever be forced on a consumer are critical security patches. And even then that's iffy.

Yes, every user needs security patches, at least the ones connected to the internet. Lacking security updates doesn't just endanger yourself, it also weakens herd immunity and thus puts other people at risk.

 

Many users "can" install updates manually but are too uninformed, lazy, or stupid to do so.

[Master Disaster]

3 minutes ago, Sakkura said:

Most people never tell it to.

And the P in PC stands for personal, maybe most people don't want it to.

 

I agree, critical patches then fine, force them. No one wants a repeat of WannaCry but MS are getting silly with it now.

 

It's MY PC and I will control what I want it to install and when, not Microsoft and not anybody else either.

[Mail me to the Moon]

1 minute ago, Sakkura said:

Yes, every user needs security patches, at least the ones connected to the internet. Lacking security updates doesn't just endanger yourself, it also weakens herd immunity and thus puts other people at risk.

 

Many users "can" install updates manually but are too uninformed, lazy, or stupid to do so.

No. dude. Just no. 

 

 

[Sakkura]

1 minute ago, Master Disaster said:

And the P in PC stands for personal, maybe most people don't want it to.

 

I agree, critical patches then fine, force them. No one wants a repeat of WannaCry but MS are getting silly with it now.

 

It's MY PC and I will control what I want it to install and when, not Microsoft and not anybody else either.

There are some deeply selfish things you don't get to insist on in a connected world. "No one wants a repeat of WannaCry but I'm going to make it happen anyway because ME ME ME ME ME."

Just now, Mail me to the Moon said:

No. dude. Just no. 

 

 

So what you're saying is you concede that you have no rational argument for your position, but remain stubbornly attached to it.

[Mail me to the Moon]

5 minutes ago, Sakkura said:

There are some deeply selfish things you don't get to insist on in a connected world. "No one wants a repeat of WannaCry but I'm going to make it happen anyway because ME ME ME ME ME."

So what you're saying is you concede that you have no rational argument for your position, but remain stubbornly attached to it.

Dude. That's my response to your irrational arguement. I gave solid examples of pc's that would not need immediate updates. Not every computer needs to be frequently updated. Especially if all it's doing is playing youtube videos.

 

Arguements aren't about who wins either. it's just exchanging ideas and information to better inform each other. What you're talking about is fighting.