Should I update?
Whether it is a Forced Windows update, or one of your many software providers pushing their latest offering, the risk of updating any software is the update breaking something in the system.
If you are lucky, it is a minor inconvenience and you can roll back the update, update a driver or just reinstall some software. Sometimes you need to wait for a third party to write a fix and you are stuck not being able to use some hardware while you wait.
Regardless of whether your updates are on your terms or theirs, you can run into issues. Should you update then? Windows these days doesn’t give you an option, it will update you at some point. Most other software you can control the updates and do them on your terms. While updates are needed at some point you don’t need to rush unless it’s fixing an issue for you.
If you can’t stop the updates, then you need to work on a plan to protect your systems if an update does go wrong and minimise any downtime.
The simple and boring preparation is BACKUPS! Backups are so important in business. Not just for the update gremlins but also for any hardware failures or a dreaded virus attack.
There are two types of people; those that backup data and those that lose data. You know which camp you want to be in. However just as important as having the backup, is an up-to-date backup. When was the last time you did a backup? Make Backups a part of your daily routine, if you have a week-old backup how much have you now lost from that week?
Backup to a removable device and then remove it from the computer and store off site. It’s about being prepared; these USBs are as close as you’ll get to a DeLorean fitted with a flux capacitor, don’t lose them. Also keep copies, Flash Drives can fail. A company I worked for used a separate USB device for each day, one for the End of Week, End of Month and End of Year. On top of this they had automated cloud back-ups. Over the top? Possibly but when the cloud backup failed and no one noticed, the USB backups saved the day.
Go find a USB and back up now, you can thank me later!
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