As I mentioned in another thread, my other half went against by advice* and recently bought a Windows 10 laptop. She switched it on over 45 minutes ago and she can't use it as it is 'updating.' The laptop has restarted itself at least once and things are still underway and it is not saying what it's doing nor is it offering the possibility to update some other time or terminate the process. I am completely unfamiliar with Windows so is this normal? It seems to do updates of something or other almost every time it is switched on.

*Only because I use Macs and therefore can't help with a Windows computer.

That's certainly my experience - don't have too many failed log-in attempts/reboots the [LIFTED] morons lock your hard drive.

Wouldn't be at all surprised if it's doing the Anniversary update, which does take a long time... If it's still updating tomorrow morning assume something is wrong.

omfg lol

Or you could use your time more productively, by visiting the Google Play Store and downloading Retro Bee.

That better, Caz? :etc:

I was omfg'ing at the fact a Windoze update could take that long. Not sure what that's got to do with Retro Bee lol

Depending on the hardware, it should take between 20 minutes (my new HP with SSD) and an hour (7 year old laptop with slow HD).

For Mac users, this is the equivalent of going from El Capitain to Yosemite.

I was suggesting that if the Windows update was taking so long, the OP might want to pass the time by doing something productive, like visiting the Play Store and download Retro Bee.

It's called shameless self-publicity!

Just bought, it will be up to date only up to the time the manufacturer or store loaded it, so a big update is likely.
Also I think MS now bundle ALL updates since the last major release into EVERY monthly update whether you already have them or not.
Either they have bought shares in BT or they couldn't care about customer's time.

I'm rapidly going off Windows and certainly would not PAY for it (I got mine as a gift from MS)

It is unlikely you will have much spare bandwith unless you have turned off download sharing and adjusted the % of bandwidth MS updates can hog.

November updates alone are well large and if you are not careful you could end up getting them twice as they are now issuing previews of what is going into the updates as well as the updates. These are "so systems staff can decide whether they want the REAL update or not" Ha! HA!

Thanks everybody. I just found it strange that you are not told what is going on or why anything is being downloaded. Plus there seemed to be no option to do this at a more convenient time. Having said that, it's not my computer and i wasn't sat in front of it so I don't know if something was missed.

You can in settings set updates to be done at a specified time - I think mine is set for 4 am

It should default to reboot "out of hours", which usually means after 10 at night and before 6 in the morning, but you can adjust the times. If you manually reboot the PC or shut it down, then that will trigger it - generally I reboot my PC once a month, after the patches have been downloaded; the rest of the time, I just put my machine in stand-by mode. I don't think I've regularly shut down my computer since moving from Windows 7 to Windows 8. With 8, 8.1 and 10, there is generally little need to shutdown or reboot, when there aren't patches to install.

The downloading takes place in the background and you shouldn't notice it. Only once the download is in place and the PC is rebooting does it actually take control of the PC. Here you will usually get a progress in percent, interspersed with a message that it is busy and you shouldn't manually power off the device. On restarting, it will, again, usually show percentage and ask you to have patience. Towards the end of a version update (as opposed to monthly patches), you will then be told that it is moving files or setting up the user experience, but that your personal files are still where you left them. And cute messages like "nearly done," or "just a few more things to do."

Thanks big_D that clears things up a bit more. And those cute messages are a little bit annoying!!