Editing Windows Update (section)

===Automatic Updates===
[[File:Winautoupdates.PNG|thumb|Automatic Updates "Restart Required" [[dialog box]] in [[Windows XP]] Service Pack 1|alt=]]
''Automatic Updates'' is the successor of the Critical Update Notification Utility. It was released in 2000, along with [[Windows Me]]. It supports Windows 2000 SP3 as well.

Unlike its predecessor, Automatic Updates can download and install updates. Instead of the five-minute schedule used by its predecessor, Automatic Updates checks the Windows Update servers once a day. After Windows Me is installed, a [[balloon help|notification balloon]] prompts the user to configure the Automatic Updates client. The user can choose from three notification schemes: being notified before downloading the update, being notified before installing the update, or both. If new updates are ready to be installed, the user may install them before turning off the computer. A shield icon will be displayed on the [[Shutdown (computing)|Shutdown]] button during this time.

Windows XP and Windows 2000 SP3 include [[Background Intelligent Transfer Service]], a [[Windows service]] for transferring files in the background without user interaction. As a system component, it is capable of monitoring the user's Internet usage and throttling its own bandwidth usage in order to prioritize user-initiated activities. The Automatic Updates client for these operating systems was updated to use this system service.

Automatic Updates in Windows XP gained notoriety for repeatedly interrupting the user while working on their computer. Every time an update requiring a reboot was installed, Automatic Updates would prompt the user with a dialog box that allowed the user to restart immediately or dismiss the dialog box, which would reappear in ten minutes; a behavior that [[Jeff Atwood]] described as "perhaps the naggiest dialog box ever."<ref name="atwood">{{cite web|url=https://blog.codinghorror.com/xp-automatic-update-nagging/|title=XP Automatic Update Nagging|last=Atwood|first=Jeff|author-link=Jeff Atwood|date=13 May 2005|website=Coding Horror: Programming and Human Factors|access-date=September 12, 2019|archive-date=9 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109191749/https://blog.codinghorror.com/xp-automatic-update-nagging/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2013, it was observed that shortly after the [[Booting|startup process]], Automatic Updates (<code>wuauclt.exe</code>) and Service Host (<code>[[svchost.exe]])</code> in Windows XP would claim 100% of a computer's CPU capacity for extended periods of time (between ten minutes to two hours), making affected computers unusable. According to Woody Leonhart of [[InfoWorld]], early reports of this issue could be seen in [[Microsoft TechNet]] [[Internet forum|forums]] in late May 2013, although Microsoft first received a large number of complaints about this issue in September 2013. The cause was an [[exponential algorithm]] in the evaluation of superseded updates, which had grown large over the decade following the release of Windows XP. Microsoft's attempts to fix the issue in October, November and December proved futile, causing the issue to be escalated to the top priority.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/12/exponential-algorithm-making-windows-xp-miserable-could-be-fixed/|title=Exponential algorithm making Windows XP miserable could be fixed|last=Bright|first=Peter|date=December 16, 2013|website=[[Ars Technica]]|publisher=[[Condé Nast]]|access-date=September 12, 2019|archive-date=6 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506000837/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/12/exponential-algorithm-making-windows-xp-miserable-could-be-fixed/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.infoworld.com/article/2609615/microsoft-promises-to-fix-windows-xp-svchost-redlining--as-soon-as-possible-.html|title=Microsoft promises to fix Windows XP SVCHOST redlining 'as soon as possible'|last=Leonhard|first=Woody|date=December 16, 2013|website=[[InfoWorld]]|publisher=[[IDG]]|access-date=September 12, 2019|archive-date=30 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330032404/https://www.infoworld.com/article/2609615/microsoft-promises-to-fix-windows-xp-svchost-redlining--as-soon-as-possible-.html|url-status=live}}</ref>