The Tenuous Link

Some MCE updates are critical, and get installed automatically, others are not.

My new computer rebooted itself while I was at work yeterday. I imagined it was because of some stupid mistake by the people who built it for me, and I drafted an angry email in my head as I went to sleep.

This morning I thought that I should check the Event Viewer to see if there were any clues, and I noticed this in the System section:

Restart Required: To complete the installation of the following updates, the computer will be restarted within 5 minutes: 
- Update for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (KB913800)
- Update for Windows XP (KB900485)

Aha -- the problem was I (or the people who built my computer for me) had set the computer to *automatically* download and install updates from Microsoft. Some installs need the computer to be rebooted. That's not great if I have unfinished work open on my desktop, but all I lost this time were some open browser windows. I'll never know what I might have learned. I've set it to ask me before installing in the future.

But, I'll only be notified of critical updates. Running Windows Update (or Microsoft Update, if you use that version) by hand will also tell you about recommended and optional updates. Today, I noticed a new recommended update. More details at The Green Button

I think the only issue that will affect me is taking out scrambled channels (which MCE can't play) from the TV guide. I'd already downloaded an earlier service pack that fixed that. At least I know that I don't need to send an angry email today.