Do official updates decrease performance?

[pod]

I am running windows 7 ultimate 64-bit on a quad core opteron.

I'm noticing logon is a bit slower than it used to be...is it unfounded or do folk think the idea that microsoft updates start to slow performance down on fresh installs is true?

Not that there's much you can do about it, I was just curious?

Cheers,

Chris

[SimpleSi]

It is a universal truth that any new OS seems to run like brown stuff off a shovel when you first load it and grinds to a halt in later life unless you increase your ram by a factor of 8.

(And even then its slow!)

If you were managing an OS Business - wouldn't you ensure that V1 ran fast and then once you had people hearts, minds and cash you wouldn't care less?

This is why the youth of today say that Win7 is great and runs just as fast as XP.

XP has been around for years and is on SP3

regards
Simon
(Back from Friday night after school pub trip )

If you want to see how a lean OS runs on today's machines - check out puppy linux and see what lightning fast really means

[DrPerceptron]

Menuet OS is what then? assembly based... runs off a floppy (can't do a lot admittedly)


Windows 7 hasn't slowed a lot down since I installed it at work or even at home... My Docs/Pics/Videos etc keep 'em empty or lightly populated and it keeps it happy.

[pod]

If you want to see how a lean OS runs on today's machines - check out puppy linux and see what lightning fast really means

I must confess I was running 64-bit Ubuntu Studio before Windows 7 but was hooked in when MS gave a free version of Win 7 Ultimate at some conference I was at.

I love my monitor, with built-in cam/mic, but the linux kernel doesn't, hence the move. I have been using linux since the 90s but I just don't have the inclination anymore to spend days/weeks getting a bit of hardware working. The days of messing with refresh rates and kernel modules are over...any linux I am running these days is a headless server.

[AngryTechnician]

I haven't noticed any slowdown on any of my Windows 7 machines. I've also built several fresh ones over the last week and they did not seem any slower after running Windows Update than before.

It's far more likely that the gradual accumulation of application software you've added since installing is behind any performance loss.

[sparkeh]

It entirely depends on what the update does. It could effect performance (eg I remember installing a Win ME update that caused my CPU to run at approx. 99%) but by the same token it could improve performance if it fixes an issue or improves how some process is performed.

[gshaw]

Certainly the process of constantly downloading \ installing auto updates kills the machine... my Vista x64 and XP SP3 at home both grinding to a halt recently in a frenzy of HD activity then at the end the scheduled reboot box - practically every day I've used either machine in the last 2 weeks!

Remember when XP was released it was meant to be the end of reboots for software installs

[tommej]

There's only one cure, the ssd!

[elsiegee40]

Windows seems to make a right mess of the HDD drive even when installing on brand new kit.

From bitter experience now, I have started routinely running defrags on new kit after I've installed the OS and software and apply the updates. It's unbelievable how fragmented files can be even when the drive is 90% free!