I wish that Microsoft would stop updating programs that I do not have.

@Asylum (47893)
Manchester, England
March 19, 2017 12:15pm CST
I have long been a great fan of Microsoft Office, which I find extremely versatile and useful. However, I do not use all individual programs included in the suite. The 4 that I use are Excel, Outlook, Word and Publisher. Whenever I install Microsoft Office I always choose the Customise option and install only the programs that I use. I even drill in far enough to select further options, transferring all of the features for those that I use in order to run them without CD support and ensuring that other programs are totally unavailable. Nevertheless, whenever I update Windows I am frequently inundated with updates such as security fixes for Microsoft Powerpoint or Access etcetera. I can only assume that since the Office suite is detected, no attempt is made to differentiate between those installed and those not installed. It infuriates me to have my operating system littered with numerous updates for programs that are not even on my computer.
10 people like this
8 responses
Always smiling
@allknowing (153544)
• India
20 Mar 17
Is it the windows update you are talking about? That can be disabled. I had that and it was a pain and after disabling it I not longer get them. You will find that in programmes.
1 person likes this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
20 Mar 17
It cannot be disabled in Windows 10. In previous versions you could either turn off the updates, or even select which ones you installed. Now it has all been automated.
1 person likes this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
20 Mar 17
@allknowing Yes, but I see little point in going back 2 versions.
1 person likes this
Always smiling
@allknowing (153544)
• India
20 Mar 17
@Asylum That is a real pain. Can you not switch back to windows 7?
1 person likes this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502376)
• Italy
20 Mar 17
They do this since many years and they will never take the time to implement an algorithm to check what is installed before performing the updates. This makes me crazy.
1 person likes this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
20 Mar 17
It really annoys me because I like to keep the system as clear as possible. The only reason must be that they just do not care.
1 person likes this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
20 Mar 17
@LadyDuck Exactly, so they do it the easiest way for them.
1 person likes this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502376)
• Italy
20 Mar 17
@Asylum This is surely the most possible reason, it's not their problem, it is our problem.
1 person likes this
DW Davis
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
19 Mar 17
With all the effort MS goes to you would think they could build in code that would recognize the apps you're not using and not load those updates.
1 person likes this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
19 Mar 17
I suspect that the reason is that they do not care.
1 person likes this
pgn
@pgntwo (22405)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
19 Mar 17
Some parts of the o/s get replaced when the office installer is run... And the components forever mark you as an Office user. As an example, Microsoft o/s and IE are inextricably intertwined, a recent change to a secure web authentication protocol broke an app on my computer until I went in and updated a setting in IE to make the app (not an MS app!) start working again. Weird. But not unusual for Microsoft.
1 person likes this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
19 Mar 17
I have found a few dll files for the programs that are not installed, but whether they come from the installation or updates I have no idea. Of course those dll files have nowhere to point anyway.
1 person likes this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
19 Mar 17
@pgntwo It would seem that that they have arranged that the presence of one feature of office is considered as adequate to assume that all features must be present.
1 person likes this
pgn
@pgntwo (22405)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
19 Mar 17
@Asylum I suspect the relationship between the development teams within Microsoft is a bit closer than it often needs to be.
1 person likes this
Judy Evans
@JudyEv (382014)
• Rockingham, Australia
20 Mar 17
We use much the same programs that you use.
1 person likes this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
20 Mar 17
In that case I assume that you also end up receiving the same pointless updates that I do.
1 person likes this
Judy Evans
@JudyEv (382014)
• Rockingham, Australia
20 Mar 17
@Asylum I guess. Mostly they seem to be happy to update after I've logged off or gone to bed or whatever.
1 person likes this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
20 Mar 17
@JudyEv I always look at what is being installed, but sadly cannot pick and choose.
1 person likes this
Claudia Kirkland
@CRK109 (14556)
• United States
19 Mar 17
While I don't use Microsoft Office, I also choose to customize when I install a program onto my computer. I want to have as much control over what goes into the computer as I possibly can.
1 person likes this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
19 Mar 17
That is precisely why I ensure that no part of the programs I do not use is installed, yet they bombard me with updates to clutter my system anyway.
1 person likes this
Claudia Kirkland
@CRK109 (14556)
• United States
20 Mar 17
@Asylum I know. I don't understand it either. You would think the company would have a way to know what programs we have and how to care for just them.
1 person likes this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
20 Mar 17
@CRK109 With previous versions of Windows we had the option to0 select which updates were installed, but with Windows 10 they install anyway.
AmberLynn
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
19 Mar 17
I know nothing of coding and programming. I still think there has to be a simple way for the installer / updater to detect when a particular component isn't present. Sure you have office suite, but like you've indicated, that doesn't necessarily mean you have all components of it.
1 person likes this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
19 Mar 17
I make a deliberate point of ensuring that no components of the programs I do not use are installed, but Microsoft apparently does not care.
1 person likes this
Faye
@FayeHazel (40230)
• United States
19 Mar 17
That would irritate me too - that they couldn't differentiate which programs you do or don't have.
1 person likes this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
19 Mar 17
It just litters my operating system with a load of pointless files that do not serve any purpose.