Automatic Stupids

Windows decided to install some updates for me today. It's one of those things that happens from time to time. When it finished, it popped up that helpful message saying "I've finished, but now I've got to restart your computer. Is that convenient now, or would you like to do it later?"

That's a pretty cool message. If you're like me and typically have 10 different applications open at once, each with something unsaved, having your computer randomly decide to restart right now sucks.

Of course, this being Windows, there has to be some element of suck involved. First off, this message box has a timer. If you don't click "Later" within 5 minutes, it will restart anyway. At first glace, this seems like a great idea - you're not around, so your computer will just sort itself out. Except if I'm not around, it's probably because I'm in the middle of something and got called away. Or went to the toilet. Or I'm on the phone. Or even I'm looking at the wrong monitor.

The other, much more annoying part is that clicking "Later" isn't enough. Oh no, every 15 minutes for the rest of the day I get the same message box. Which basically means that if I'm away from my desk for more than 5 minutes at any point today, I can pretty much guarantee what I'm working on will be lost.

Sure, I could just restart my machine, but right now I'm in the middle of doing 5 things at once, all of which need to be done right now, as well as manning the phones and answering the door and convincing the printer to not stuff up. So I don't really have time to restart now. That's why I hit the "Later" button in the first place.