> 5 hours to do a Software Update

It's been one of those days. Sob stories about time wasted in virus scanning and software updates are my specialty, aren't they?

Some people write about what they KNOW.

I write about what ANNOYS ME.

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I left for work circa 8am. A bit late, considering that I started leaving at 7:30am, but that's another story.

I had not driven a mile before a realized I had forgotten something. I returned to the house.

I thought: "Since I am delayed, maybe I should just check my computer? It should be fast."

That's how it always goes. It was 8:20.

As soon as my computer boots, the security center red alert is there. Update the virus scanner. Update Windows. Oh-oh: it's a big update. SP3. Apparently I have not used this personal computer for a while.

Before long both my personal computer, and my company laptop, are consumed doing updates. Worse, I could not get anything else done on the net on any other computer (I have several), since my home broadband is slow.

I did not want to disturb the update process - that has, in the past, occasionally resulted in brokennesses. So I waited. And waited. And WAITED. After a while it becomes a matter of interest: how long will this take?

I have been able to use my work laptop for a while. My 3 year old work laptop updated faster than my 6 year old low-end personal tablet PC.

Is this the new benchmark: how long does it take to do a big software update?

It's now 13:53. The personal computer has just rebooted after the update. I hope it's finished, but I don't know yet.