Ed, each version of Windows has it's own unique way of controling the update process. FYI currently (i.e Windows7) has "Windows Update" controling everything, and yes it has an option (under settings) that allows one to turn off the updating of the Office products.Ed in Tampa wrote:Not exactly.
You need to read the discussion I provided the link for. Apparently with just windows update turned on and system updates turned off you will get all the updates for windows (security or otherwise) what you won't get is updates for things like MS Office.
As for Microsoft Sercurity Essentials there is an option to have it check for updates before it does a scheduled scan of your system. So in effect everytime it does a scan it would first check for and download any needed updates.
Therefore all you wouldn't get updates for is things like Office, Media player and such. But all of these have an option that will allow you to periodically check for and install any updates. If you look at your update history you will notice most if not all updates were for windoews.
So, although it's hard to give once answer to what is a complicated question. My point is, getting ALL the updates is essential for a secure PC system and if this is not working for some reason you should fix the issue. Turning the update off is NOT a fix and leaves you at risk if you access the Internet.