I have to say this – the “Windows Update” service sucks.
Perhaps there is some technical way to control when it decides to run its various processes. I was never able to figure it out – perhaps I was somewhat hindered by the fact that the computers I was working with are Korean language versions of Windows (and it should be noted, Microsoft charges money to change the language of your operating system, which strikes me as a cruel scam), and my Korean just isn’t that good.
The experience I have had with Windows 7 is that the Windows Update kicks off various memory-intensive processes basically whenever it wants. These processes, linked to what is called the “TrustedInstaller,” are not the same as the timing of the download of the updates, which can be scheduled (see screenshot, above).
These processes use so much memory (the amount of which I couldn’t seem to regulate, cap or control) that it essentially prevents one from using the computer while they are running. As I said, these processes kick off on what seems an essentially random schedule (some experimentation showed that it was often, but not always, within the first few hours of connecting the machine to the internet after having been turned off or having been disconnected). It’s a common enough problem that you can find other people complaining about it online with google searches, but most commenters seem seem to relegate it to the category of an annoyance, rather than considering it a major problem.
For me, it was a major problem. I don’t use my computer all the time at work – obviously, when I am in the classroom, I’m not using it. But when I need to do something on it, I need to do something right then. I can’t sit around and wait for some Windows Update trustedinstaller.exe doohickey to finish monopolizing the memory. I’m on a 4-minute break between classes, and I have run to the staff room because need to go on my computer to print something for a student, or I need to search for a file on my computer, etc. I would keep the “processes running” window open my computer, just so at least I could decide right away whether my computer was going to be useful to me or not.
Lowering the priority on the process thread connnected to the svchost.exe process that encloses the trustedinstaller services involved in these processes didn’t prevent them from making my computer unusable. Killing off any of the svchost processes isn’t an option, as they tend to bundle things you really need, like network connectivity, with things you really don’t need, like Window Update. The only solution is to disable the process.
So, finally, I simply disabled Windows Update. What is it doing, anyway? All these alleged virus vulnerabilities… sometimes I feel like it’s just so much technohypochondria, really. If I have a major problem on my computer, I have it all backed up – I learned my lesson long ago, about that. I would never lose more than a day or two’s worth of work. I put everything important and long-term in google-docs. Maybe I would be best off at this point with a chromebook. But I need Windows because this is Korea – Microsoft owns the Korean OS space, and so I get too much stuff from coworkers, bosses, and students, that is Windows-reliant, Internet Explorer (i.e. ActiveX) -reliant, and/or MS Office-centered. I actually have Ubuntu Linux installed on my work computer, and sometimes I open it just for a breath of fresh air, but the interoperability issues quickly end those experiments.
Anyway, disabling Windows Update prevents these memory-intensive processes, and I can use my computer when I need to, without these annoyances.
Sometimes, I leave my computer on and turn the Windows Update back on when I leave work, so it can still do its update thing if it wants.
Since I disabled Windows Update, I’ve experienced a noticeable improvement in my mood at work. I no longer dread having to run to my computer to do something for a student between classes. I no longer have to tell a student, on a nearly daily basis, “I’m sorry, I’ll get that paper to you later, I can’t open it on my computer right now.”
For anyone reading this: 1) if you’re having the same problem, just disable Windows Update – you’ll survive fine; 2) if you have some advice for how to get my (Korean-speaking) Windows 7 to only run these memory-intensive process on some fixed schedule, please let me know – I gave up trying to figure it out.
Posting this here is probably inviting some various denominations of fanboy trolling, but I guess I’ll just deal with that – comments are moderated and often ignored.
[daily log: walking, 6 km]
