I’ve complained (and so have many others) about the Apple Software Update functionality — especially now that it suggests that I update software I never had installed (Safari<\/a>)!<\/p>\n

On Vista (and XP is probably similar), there’s a scheduled task that runs once a week to look for updates. <\/p>\n

To stop that from occurring, click the start\/windows logo button, and type "TASK" into the search box.<\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/p>\n

Select Task Scheduler. (You may need to provide an administrator password or just click continue acknowledging that you’re about to make system changes).<\/p>\n

Expand the Task Scheduler library node and then click the Apple node.<\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/p>\n

You should see on the right side an entry named, AppleSoftwareUpdate.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Click that entry and either right click and select Disable, or click the item and select the Disable option in the Action list on the right side of the Task Scheduler.<\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/p>\n

Although XP’s task scheduler has a very different user interface, the concept is identical, and you should be able to find and disable the AppleSoftwareUpdater in a similar manner. <\/p>\n

Here’s hoping that this stops the annoying "Install Safari" now option.<\/p>\n

Note that you should occasionally check for updates manually in ITunes if you disable this functionality. <\/strong>It’s available in the Help menu (Check for Updates). <\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/p>\n

QuickTime checks for updates (according to the documentation and settings), only when the application is running (brilliant!).<\/p>\n

Or, if you’re not comfortable with completely disabling the auto update feature, you can change the frequency of update checks using the task scheduler. Instead of disabling the task as shown above, decrease it’s frequency. Don’t disable it as suggested above, instead, right click on the AppleSoftwareUpate line, and select properties.<\/p>\n

Click the Triggers Tab, then select the first trigger (in my example, it’s labeled Weekly) and click the Edit button:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

This shows the details of the weekly trigger. In the screen shot above, I’ve changed it from weekly to once a month (on the last day). I’d recommend you leave the advanced settings as is and just modify the frequency to whatever you’d like. Once a month is reasonable — then you’ll only be annoyed by this update once a month rather than once a week. <\/p>\n

If you’re paranoid about security, you’ll probably just need to accept the fact that Apple’s update for this is obnoxious and maybe if enough people complain — Apple will realize the error of their ways and provide a way to ignore new <\/strong>Apple Software that you don’t want to install.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve complained (and so have many others) about the Apple Software Update functionality — especially now that it suggests that I update software I never had installed (Safari)! On Vista (and XP is probably similar), there’s a scheduled task that runs once a week to look for updates. To stop that from occurring, click the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5QIe-1N","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55,"url":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/55","url_meta":{"origin":111,"position":0},"title":"Where’s the Ignore Option Apple?","date":"April 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"You duped me once Apple by making me think I needed to update Safari on one of my Windows computers. But, I'm not going to make that mistake again. I don't want your browser. I have two browsers installed already and that's quite enough. Even lowly Vista offers me an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"image","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/image-thumb7.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1329,"url":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/1329","url_meta":{"origin":111,"position":1},"title":"My Nest Thermostat installation experience","date":"December 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"After the amazing mad dash for the Nest thermostats when they were first made available for pre-order, I ordered three thermostats for our home from Best Buy (as Nest.com had sold out). We\u2019ve got a three zone heating system, and I wanted to replace all at once (as the system\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Recommendations"","img":{"alt_text":"20111218-IMG_0096","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/20111218-IMG_0096_thumb.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":528,"url":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/528","url_meta":{"origin":111,"position":2},"title":"Google Chrome … it’s here (for Windows)","date":"September 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Downloaded and installed ... it's fast (and one of the easiest installs I've seen for any application. Kudos to Google for bucking the trend of awful application installers). \u00a0 The maximized mode is particularly clean -- it doesn't use a Windows title bar at all - so the first browser\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Coding"","img":{"alt_text":"image","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/image12.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":78,"url":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/78","url_meta":{"origin":111,"position":3},"title":"How to use Vista’s Search Folders (You should try them!)","date":"April 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"If you aren't using Vista's Search Folders yet, you should! (At least try them!). Here's how to create one. I'll use PSD files in this example. PSD files are files created by Photoshop. But you can substitute any file type as you follow along. First, start Windows Search: Windows Start\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/image-thumb9.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2165,"url":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/2165","url_meta":{"origin":111,"position":4},"title":"Automatic Reconnection of iSCSI Targets in Windows 10 using PowerShell","date":"April 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"When my highly recommended Synology Disk Station reboots for a required update (I've got it set to automatically reboot), a shared Windows 10 PC in our house cannot always successfully reconnect to the iSCSI targets without manual intervention. Unfortunately, I haven't always noticed which has led to several features of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Coding"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/2017-04-04_19-07-23.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":175,"url":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/175","url_meta":{"origin":111,"position":5},"title":"What’s the perfect API?","date":"May 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I was skimming a rant by someone on arstechnica about how badly messed up Win32 APIs are and how superior everything else is, when this paragraph grabbed my attention: The reason must be that no one in Microsoft actually gives a damn. 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