new laptop with windows10 - does it need updates to work?

ajaye · 21 Jul 2016

Long story short, I got a new HP laptop with Windows 10 and had nothing but problems. At first the laptop would sleep and not wake up and HP told me I needed to connect to the internet for updates, a graphic driver update in particular. I ended up having more problems just starting the thing, and then it crashed completely, so I'm returning it for a refund.

Now I'm worried about getting anything with Windows 10.

I have slow and data limited satellite internet and was going to tag it as a metred connection then manually run updates as it suited me. But are updates crucial to the computer running at all? Was I dealt a lemon or is it quite feasible that a brand new laptop won't work without its software being updated?

I'm thinking of maybe buying a business laptop with Windows 10 and downgrading to Win 7Pro. If I do that, can I revert to Windows 10 at no cost when 7 is no longer supported?

Any ideas/advice appreciated.

AddRAM · 22 Jul 2016

You must have gotten a bad PC.

A PC can run absolutely fine without updating.

ajaye · 23 Jul 2016

Thanks AddRAM. So if I do buy a new laptop do you think I'd be ok with Windows 10 and little or no internet? - I mean long term.

cereberus · 23 Jul 2016

ajaye said:

Thanks AddRAM. So if I do buy a new laptop do you think I'd be ok with Windows 10 and little or no internet? - I mean long term.

Main issue is internet security. If you do not use it, updates are not that important if your programs run ok.

You want to avoid large downloads whilst on satellite I assume as costs would be horrendous.

I would disable the windows update service from services.msc. Install a good third party av package which you upgrade periodically (that would not cost a lot).

Then when on a good internent connection eg wifi hotspot, then do updates.

ajaye · 24 Jul 2016

Thanks cereberus. Would it be sufficient for me to just tag the internet as a metered connection? The services.msc changes worry me a little, in that I wouldn't really know what I was doing.

cereberus · 24 Jul 2016

ajaye said:

Thanks cereberus. Would it be sufficient for me to just tag the internet as a metered connection? The services.msc changes worry me a little, in that I wouldn't really know what I was doing.

Metered connection onlky works if wifi but should suffice. It is easier to stop the windows update service than you think.

ajaye · 24 Jul 2016

Ok, I'll give it a whirl if/when I get the new laptop, and come back here if I run into problems. Thanks so much :)