Microsoft Update Delay?

I don't know if this happened to anyone else, but thought I'd share my experience so you wouldn't be concerned.

Of course we all know that last Tuesday, 14 November, was the day the monthly security updates were made available by Microsoft. As it turns out, I took a bit of vacation that afternoon so was home early. Having seen the Security Bulletin, I suspected that the updates might take a while to download -- particularly since I have a dial-up connection.

I connected and was not surprised to see the gold shield pop up with the list of updates. I gave the go-ahead to download all of the updates. The shield returned to the sys tray and I went about my business.

It wasn't until several days later that I realized that I had not been prompted to install the updates. (Yes, I have been busy -- and probably a bit absent-minded as well.) Since I have good security software in place and spend my on-line time at safe sites, I was not concerned and decided to wait and see what would happen.

Sure enough, last evening -- a full five days later -- the gold shield popped up again and I was prompted to install the updates. I can now report that the installation went well, the restart was accomplished and my system is up to date.

The point of sharing this story is so you will understand that there are millions of people getting the same updates at approximately the same time. Depending on your internet connection, length of time on line, how busy the servers are at any given time, and the number and size of the updates can all effect the process. So, if something similar happens to you, don't be dismayed. You can always navigate to Microsoft Updates instead of waiting.