Windows Update going haywire!

On my primary computer, I use WIN-7. Several times each week, it will lock up and I'll have to do a System restore. I always notice that the latest restore point was created after a Windows Critical Update" has taken place. I restore it to a point before the update, and it works fine again. A day or two later I have to go through it all over again. Why does a working OS have to be updated to become a non working OS? How can I fix this? Once I turned off the auto update for windows and it locked up then too. Any ideas? Thanks,:confused