Windows updates unnecessary?

Hello,

I used 'The ultimate troubleshooter' a few days ago.
I read in the program that using windows update is unnecessary when you have high class Internet Security software 'watching' what is going on in your pc.
It recommended to shutdown the update facility.

This was something new for me.
Is this true?
That will be a relieve because I have the impression that all the updates are slowing down XP.

I use Kaspersky IS 2010.

 

Security will be effectively removed if you cease updates. They are critical parts of the running of your operating system and they would not be provided if they were not necessary.

As for the slowness, there are many other issues that could be causing this, including large internet security suites. This does not mean disable them, it means we can help make your PC faster in other ways.

 

I can tell you that I always turn the automatic updates off for ALL programs except antivirus. I find that too many of the updates are to protect MS, not your computer and they use resources on your computer slowing it down. I do my own research and install only the specific updates that I feel are important for MY protection.

I respectfully disagree with Collinsl that "Security will be effectively removed oif you cease updates". You won't get some of their new "security updates" but you will not have removed any of the currently installed updates.

If you have a good firewall and antivirus scanner along with a current non-Microsoft browser, I would agree that you would be reasonably safe on the internet depending on the kind of sites you visit. I am currently running SP2 on this machine and have used it exclusively for internet for over 4 years without any updates from MS and without incident. I run AVG Pro and ZoneAlarm. I also use the IPCop Firewall/Router.

 

I would agree that some people should run the updates. I do install some specific updates that are necessary to protect my computer and a couple that are necessary to run software that requires SP3. I think there are a total of 11 that I install on my own computers beyond SP2.

On client computers I do update to SP3 and leave the updates on.

I did however point out that it depends on the kind of sites a person visits. I don't do porn or torrents and I don't do any peer to peer or IM's and I don't seek cracks for software. The places I download from are places like MajorGeeks and SourceForge. I feel pretty safe in the places I visit. For that kind of browsing, the security updates needed would be mostly included in the browser updates. (Firefox)

 

Ok, I'll keep updating my pc, that's final.

About internet browsers, I read on majorgeeks that IE8 is one of the safest to use nowadays, safer then firefox for instance.
That was new, so I'll change.
I read that here:
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=44525

 

I would not argue with chaslang in this case, after all, chaslang is the malware expert!