PC left connected to internet after cumulative update & restart

I wasn't quite sure where I should post this; here or under Windows Updates. I decided here as it relates to security concerns.

Apologies if this seems a silly question, but I usually disconnect my PC from the internet when it's ready for an 'Update and restart' process once it's downloaded a cumulative update. On this occasion, my PC remained online once I triggered it to update and restart. Once it reached the login screen, I then went away from the PC for around an hour and realised my mistake upon my return.

My question is, is there an issue leaving it connected to the internet but not yet having logged in? I haven't exposed any sensitive files on my desktop, document or download folders - have I?

I know of very few users who go to the trouble of disconnecting the computer from the internet between shutdowns and logins. I don't.

Thank you for your replies.

I assume there's no way of knowing whether or not my system's been compromised? Is there anything I could look for under event logs (comp mgmt) to see if there are signs of compromise?

Paul Black said:

Hello @TenneR,



You can run an AV and Malware scan for piece of mind.

Other than that, you could extract the ERRORS and WARNINGS from the Event Logs in Application & System, although I do NOT think that this will be that helpful.

If you are interested in doing this, then let me know and I will post the Commands.

Thanks for your offer to help. That's fine ... I'm comfortable if you guys think it should be okay.

Sounds like I should be okay behind my router's firewall and MS wouldn't have mined anything personal.