Why do people with computers get problems when they run updates.?

Question

I've seen it before and now i'm a believer. Folks will have updates ran and once installed, they lose their internet connections. I have no clue how or why, but all I know is that it happens. I know people afraid to have updates ran because of errors they may cause.

I have never had any of my computers give me problems and I have the latest updates available.

Oh, to keep it simple, they've all been Dell computers.

Answer 1

Microsoft has a driver validation program with a number of manufacturers.  Because of this, drivers that show up on the Windows Update page are those that have been submitted to Microsoft for validation or that Microsoft themselves have written for specific devices.

One of those devices is the Network Interface Card (also known as NIC).  Recently Microsoft released a driver for the Realtek series of Network Chipsets.  The problem.. this driver was incompatible with a number of the actual Realtek devices.

Windows update pushed the driver installation and subsequently, a number of people then lost their network connections.

Microsoft has a great idea with the driver validation program, but it has been poorly executed and as can be seen by instances such as above, the driver that Microsoft pushes through Windows Update, is not always the best driver.