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On Tuesday, September 11, 2012 07:02:02 PM bad apple wrote: > On 11/09/12 18:40, Cramptons wrote: > > Hope this catches you in time. > > Windows 7 update can screw up a dual boot machine. Suggest you make > > sure you update Windows first and then switch update off. Should Ms > > update work in the future you can always switch it back on again. > > John. > > With all due respect, you're doing it wrong. > > As much as I dislike windows, I have *never* seen windows/microsoft > update trash a dual boot setup and I used to administer 4,000 hospital > workstations that were windows boxes during the day and rebooted into a > distributed openmpi cluster during the night for processing the lab guys > gene sequencing data. The windows side of things sometimes blew up even > on an internal WSUS setup - with full patch and regression testing for > our corporate images - but they never once wrecked the linux partitions > or touched the grub boot loader. As I said, you should use dd to backup > the MBR anyway, which protects you from the obvious point of failure. > > Additionally, I suggest you never, ever run an unpatched windows box: > completely turning off windows update is a remarkably stupid thing to do > (selectively managing windows update yourself is another matter entirely > and recommended). Actually, forget "suggest": the internet at large > *demands* you never run an unpatched windows machine because it will be > compromised and then we'll all have to put up with your spam- spewing > zombied mail relay/DDOS bot. > > No offence Cramptons, but that is the worst advice I've seen for a long > time. Apologies if I've come across harshly but I have to deal with the > consequences of unpatched windows boxes all day, every day and I'm not > keen to see more added to the millions already out there. > > Regards Feel free to call me stupid then. I have 2 desktops and 5 laptops all unpatched, each of them with a small linux partition (Ubuntu 10.04, patched... for when Windoze does implode) and haven't had a problem for over 2 years. I've never heard of a Windoze update killing a Linux partition either! However, I have known a BSOD mangle an MBR beyond use. Ulitimate Boot CD is a very useful tool I find, particularly if you 'forgot' to back up your MBR... Why run them unpatched? Well when Microshaft gave me a Windoze update that mangled beyond recongnition the Windoze install and their response was "...oh dear, yes, we know about that problem, all you have to do is update the update... oh, you can't get in to your install?... the best thing to do would be reinstall... yes, it's a shame all of your data is lost, isn't it?" then I switched to Linux and stopped updating the Windows Boxes. It may be crazy, but all of my family know better than to do the things that we all tell ourselves we'll never do: use Internet Exploiter, open unsolicited attachements to e-mails, visit untrusted sites, etc, etc. And if they do, well guess what? As a linux user, I update off-site regularly - Clonezilla is my friend! They're computer users, not Windoze users. And don't get me started on Microshafts 'update' backdoor DRM policy! Still, I suspect I'm in a minority! :) -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq