how to stop win8 crashing your computer when it likes?

[tommo123]

i had to bite the bullet and get win8 (job reasons. boo). anyhoo i grabbed the free media center and add the end - it just rebooted itself! wtf!

i had via gpedit stopped windows automatically rebooting after win updates. this thing now can effectively crash my PC when it feels like it due to updates?

can you stop windows shutting itself down without explicit permission from the user? without exception?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Dunno what you are talking about

 

[tommo123]

well that was helpful, thank you

it rebooted itself to install WMC. without any prompts. effectively a crash

 

[sandorski]

It's a Feature.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I just don't understand what you're trying to say. I installed media center and no issue.

Did the update do it? Media center? Need more info

 

[blurredvision]

well that was helpful, thank you

it rebooted itself to install WMC. without any prompts. effectively a crash

I know exactly what you're talking about, as when I installed Windows Media Center, it immediately rebooted upon install completion without any prompt to me whatsoever. It was quite a shock. I had about 3 tabs open in Chrome and was just browsing away, so I'm not sure what would have happened if I had something open that needed to be saved.

I wouldn't say it's crashing, as that indicates something entirely different, but I do agree that automatic reboots need to be handled more appropriately (i.e. how they've always been handled). Since I haven't installed anything else besides Media Center that needs a reboot upon completion, I can't say for sure if it's a fault of W8 or just the Media Center install.

 

[tommo123]

i'm being a little silly about it i know but to me there's no difference to a crash and windows restarting itself. i haven't given it permission to do that, therefore it shouldn't.

based on that alone i've disabled windows update and the WMC updates option. i can't have it rebooting during the night for whatever reason and finding it sat on the logon screen in the morning.

i'll have to come back to it every month or so if i remember and install updates then. not a good start but it's either that or risk a reboot.

 

[ViRGE]

can you stop windows shutting itself down without explicit permission from the user? without exception?

The Windows add features service is an exception to the rule. It will always reboot the computer as it's necessary to reload the OS immediately after reconfiguring it for the newly added features. You gave it permission when you started the process, and I'm 99.9% sure it gave you a warning about it beforehand.

 

[tommo123]

not that i recall. if it did, i was distracted by the awful full screen of blue that appears while downloading that for a second made me think it was a BSOD

 

[Mem]

The Windows add features service is an exception to the rule. It will always reboot the computer as it's necessary to reload the OS immediately after reconfiguring it for the newly added features. You gave it permission when you started the process, and I'm 99.9% sure it gave you a warning about it beforehand.

That's correct,I've installed WMC twice (PC and laptop)and it rebooted on both..

 

[blurredvision]

not that i recall. if it did, i was distracted by the awful full screen of blue that appears while downloading that for a second made me think it was a BSOD

I forgot I hadn't installed Media Center on my laptop yet, so I'm doing so now. Before you start the install, it states:

"Save your work and close your apps - you won't be able to use your PC while features are being added. Your PC will restart at least once."

I would still expect it to warn the user immediately before the reboot, but it is what it is.

EDIT: Added "immediately before the reboot" to my last sentence to clarify my thoughts.

 

[Ferzerp]

You quoted the warning... How is that not a warning? It's not the OS's fault if the user doesn't read.

 

[blurredvision]

You quoted the warning... How is that not a warning? It's not the OS's fault if the user doesn't read.

Calm down chief, I didn't say it was the OS's fault. However, one would expect a warning immediately before the reboot, not at the beginning of the installation, similar to how automatic Windows updates are performed on W7/Vista.

 

[tommo123]

^ yep, and same with updates. they say they may need to install but don't force it on you.

this did. no, "we need to restart your pc now" blah.