Title: Quick notes on the recent Windows update

Recently my computer decided that it needed to perform a big Windows update. I can usually tell when that's about to happen because performance is terrible for no obvious reason.

BTW, if you wonder whether an update is impacting performance, open the Start menu and click the Settings tool. Enter "updates" in the search box. Click on the "Check for updates" entry and then click the "Check for updates" button. If an update is pending, that should show its status. For example, it might say that your system is up to date, an update is downloading, an update is pending, or an update is ready to install.

Anyway, the update went pretty smoothly, but it took a really long time--more than four hours. During much of that time, the system was usable but so slow that it wasn't worth the frustration. Also note that the progress seemed to get stuck a few times. It was still making progress and I could hear the disk working hard, but it showed 85% complete for a long time.

I recommend that you check for updates. If you see that they are available, start the update after you have finished work for the day and let it run overnight. Make sure it's running correctly and then go watch reruns or something.