Foo - Service Pack 3 - Problems

I just went through a bunch of virus problems with the desktop upstairs and all week I have been discussing it
with different people and hearing similar but different problems. Then the common thread of "windows wanted to do an update so I ran it" comes up. I too remember getting up from the computer and seeing the "run updates before shutdown" before it went south.

Just coincidence or are more people seeing this here?

And go ahead Mac users just start flaming us now...

As a general rule, I never have automatic updates turned on due to viruses sneaking in as windows updates. Instead, I'll go to update.microsoft.com and get a list of available updates. Then read the synopsis of what each update does and see if that applies to my system. Typically I will only do security updates and leave off the Windows and applications updates.

Here's an example of a security update that I'll pick from the list: kb960082 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960082)
Here's one that I won't apply: KB905866 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905866)

I also update manually, but the issues I've had with friends' PCs that I've worked on generally stem from never updating for long periods, then trying to fix an issue. If you keep up with it there's usually fewer problems...which is what the updates are there to prevent. Once some data corruption has had time to set in, who knows what can happen.

Whenever I reformat, whether it's a friend's rig or my own, I always install all the updates. Yes, even the optional ones. Not knowing how they or I will be utilizing the PC in the future, I feel it's best to cover the bases with a fresh system rather than trying to fix it later.